Nepertale
by Ghost 501
Summary: Gamindustri is a war torn world after the humans rejected the True Goddess. Now years later, in an effort to save themselves, a rebel traverses through the Goddess's holy land, Celestia, in order to convince her to come back and restore the world once again. An Undertale inspired story (Pacifist and Genocide Routes).
1. Prologue

And about a few months later, we're finally here. Thanks to everyone who voted in my poll back in November. As you all requested (via poll - 3 to 2), Nepertale is the first story finished! Special thanks to the beta who read over this for me before this release.

I will be working on the reboot story after a Megaman Battle Network story or two, so expect probably a March release for the next Nep story (which will be a series). Most of the overall story for the reboot has been planed to cover all four main games and my outline of the first one has been completed, I just need to put words on a document. XD

So, without further ado, here is an Undertale inspired _Neptunia_ story: Nepertale.

* * *

 **Once Upon A Nep**

Many years ago, the True Goddess ruled over the land of Gamindustri. She provided safety for the people against the various monsters that attacked the land and the people lived in harmony.

Time passed and soon the people began to drift away from her. They began to question the legitimacy of her rule. Why should they listen to her? They were more than capable of handling their own affairs and safety. The Goddess just wanted to keep them under her thumb! Despite years of leadership, the rumors of the Goddess and her eventual - and unfounded - tyranny began to spread.

As dissent began to grow, the sudden appearance of two beings cemented this thinking. The Goddess had created weapons to keep them silent. These beings were powerful and - worthy - enough to live with the Goddess in her holy land of Celestia. Many knew their time was coming. The Goddess was going to turn on them. These beings known as Control Persecution Units or CPUs became objects of malice to the people.

Then, their opportunity came. The CPUs had officially left Celestia in an attempt to live amongst the humans. Realizing their chance, some time after the CPUs arrival, the beings were attacked. They retreated back to Celestia and the Goddess surrounded her land with a magical mist that would redirect all who tried to case after the CPUs into Celestia from Gamindustri.

With her presence gone, the people turned their backs on the deity and various groups emerged to take control of Gamindustri. As the squabbles over power continued, the land was sectioned into five countries: Planeptune, Lowee, Lastation, Leanbox, and PC Continent. The Four Felons kept a firm grasp on Leanbox and Lowee; Avenir held onto Lastation; The Six Sages controlled Planeptune and PC Continent.

War brewed when the disagreements could not be fixed. The monsters returned in full force and began to attack the people.

Years passed. The land was ravaged by destruction. Caught between a two front fight, some began to remember the time of the Goddess and wished for her return. However, their calls seem to fall on deaf ears as no answer ever came. A new generation was born and networks were forged across the land. This new united front took up the name: Rebirth.

Brave adventures would venture into the fog. Some returned, claiming to never have seen the land. Others never came back.

That was until one group...the Gold Third. They were the first ones who had ventured to Celestia and returned. Unfortunately, one member of the group of four had. She had never said much about her comrades, only that they had fallen in battle. After making a few public statements about their failure, she retreated from the public view.

People began to ponder the meaning of her words. Others tried to find the Gold Third member, only to find dead ends and cold trails.

Some wondered if the Goddess or the CPUs had killed the other adventures.

Some say that one of the ruling governments had done the deed in order to disuade anyone from, or attempting to, venturing to Celestia.

No one knew for sure.

However, many knew one thing: Gamindustri would die without the Goddess. The government would never say it, but everyone could see the land withering before their eyes. While she was in power, Gamindustri prospered. Without her, well...the results spoke for themselves.

However, the dream that Gamindustri could return to its great glory was the reason they continued to try to reach Celestia.

* * *

Breaking through the fog, the red haired girl shielded her eyes as the sun shined brightly. As they adjusted to the light, the girl tapped a device on her wrist. With a less than comforting noise, the screen of the Visual Radio remained blank, "Great, looks like the fog did a number on this thing. Guess I won't be able to call Umio and the others for now." She sighed as she took her eyes off the device and began looking around, "Wow! This place is freaking amazing!"

Celestia was a beautiful environment compared to the war torn Planeptune. Green trees, bright meadows, and flowers everywhere. In the distance, she actually noticed some of the monsters running around. However, unlike in Gamindustri, they seemed contented to just laze around. One of the dogoos, gelatinous creatures with strange dog like faces and ears, looked at Uzume and merely shut its eyes again, returning back to its dream world. They were completely uninterested in attacking her at all.

"Guess this place does something to 'em," Uzume mumbled as she continued into the forest. The fog was layered by some type of magic that often managed to turn people around, preventing them from finding the land of the Goddess. Luckily, it wasn't a perfect fix. A strong electromagnetic pulse seemed to disrupt it enough for someone to find their way through easily enough. Of course, the device responsible for doing such a thing was affected by it instead. Uzume guessed it was a countermeasure to prevent anyone from trying the work around. Thankfully, the Visual Radio had been able to do its job before going out on her.

Now, all that was left to do was to find the Goddess and ask her to help the rebels take back Gamindustri.

Uzume sighed, "Why did that sound easier to do in my head?"


	2. Chapter 1

**Fairyache**

Uzume yawned as she continued to walk through the forest. She honestly had no idea where she was going. As she looked up into the sky, she noticed that the sun was still high up. As she turned her eyes back on the road, her mind began to take a mental check of her inventory. She should probably focus on finding some food and water soon. Getting here had taken longer than she thought and thus she had already exhausted her resources.

Snapping her out of her thoughts, a sound caught Uzume's ears as she grabbed the Dream Megaphone. Based on the previous data of any CPU interaction and some stolen info from The Six Sages database, the megaphone had been designed as the perfect weapon to take to Celestia. It was created with the purpose of subduing and not killing, after all there was no way the Goddess would agree to any of her terms if she killed the people she seemed to protect.

The noise stopped. Uzume looked around careful and slowly put the megaphone back on her hip. Maybe it was nothing and she was just on edge. This was a brand new place with possible beings that could kill her. Not much was known about the CPUs since many humans just maintained their distance from them. All that they knew was that they could be very dangerous.

The rustle sounded again, only this time the sudden noise was accompanied by four orbs floating around Uzume. Someone stepped out from the forest. The person was a lot smaller than Uzume had been expecting, wearing a purple dress and blue tie and this strange hat with a large N on it. Her blond hair went just below her shoulders. She also had a pair of triangular, blue and purple wings which gave her a fairy like appearance. Uzume probably would have commented on her choice of attire but as a wear of an orange tie with a white spiral on it, she was in no place to.

The fairy like being spoke, "Human, I'm sorry for the sudden force. However, I believe that the added threat would make my words more clear." She said, her voice rather calm for someone threatening someone else's life.

Uzume stared blankly at the small fairy, "Uh...what?"

The fairy sighed, shaking her head, "You are not supposed to be here. Please return back to Gamindustri." Her voice had grown stern, almost like a parent giving her child a last warning. The orbs around Uzume seem to glow ominously. The fairy looked at Uzume seriously, her blue eyes seemingly staring into her soul.

"Hey, hey! Take it easy, I'm not here to hurt anyone!" Uzume said, shaking her head and putting down her megaphone. She put her hands up in the air, trying to be as nonthreatening as possible. She needed to get to the Goddess, but wouldn't be able to if she was blasted to pieces by this person.

"That does not change the situation. Please leave now!" She said again, though Uzume noticed that orbs' glow had diminished.

Uzume looked at the fairy. For an apparent sentry, she didn't seem like she wanted to threaten her. She literally only wanted her to leave. Maybe she was probably only acting this way because she was so small. It would be pretty hard for her to threaten anyone with her size. Outside of the orbs, which radiated energy, Uzume didn't see much to be afraid of from her.

The red hair girl shook her head, "I can't. I...I need to talk to the Goddess. She needs to return back to Gamindustri!" Uzume said, trying to get the fairy to stop her threat, "You don't know how bad it is out there."

"Gamindustri's condition is not significant to me. What is important is protecting this land from any humans. Your kind has already put the people who live here through enough trouble already. Why should I...they care about the human race? Why should the Goddess return now to save them?" She asked. Her voice had hitched, making her sound angry. However, her eyes were telling a different story. They had gone soft for just a moment. Perhaps, she really did seem to care about what was going on outside.

Uzume took a small step forward, but immediately retreated as the spheres hovered closer to her, "I don't know what happened here that made you so paranoid of me, but I promise you that I only want to talk. I know that if the Goddess listens to me, I can get this little stalemate of ours to end." Orange eyes met blue ones, "I know we screwed up and pretty freaking bad too, but Gamindustri will die if the Goddess doesn't come back. Some of the humans would rather see it that way than let her have it I guess, but a lot don't. A lot of us want to fight them. To get back our homes. But we can't fight them by ourselves. They just too powerful. If the Goddess comes back, you have my word I'll work with the people to get all who don't accept her too and the other residents of Celestia as well!

"Please...just let me talk to her." Uzume bowed her head.

The fairy stared at her for a while before dropping her attack, the orbs fading into nothingness, "I...I can understand your sentiment in wanting this battle to end. I don't know what has become of Gamindustri, but...some how the Goddess does still love the land. However, she wants to help all her citizens, including the ones who reside here." She sighed softly, "I do not sense any malice from you. In fact, there's something about you. You remind me of a certain resident here."

Uzume, sensing that she was somewhat in the clear, picked up her head and smirked, "Oh, I guess that's a good thing!" She said, trying to not look proud.

"She's the laziest one here, spends most of her day napping, and almost never listens to instruction. I sincerely hope that you are not completely like her," Histoire said plainly as Uzume fell backwards comically, "However, she's probably the most positive one here. She...well...you might see it when you see her, depending on if she decides to treat this seriously or not." The fairy looked back at Uzume, "What make you both similar is that you both carry hope. Something that is quite small amounts here."

Histoire stepped to the side and pointed down a path, "If what you say is true, then please go straight ahead. You should find a small house in the clearing up ahead. If Neptune is there, tell her Histoire sent you. If she isn't, well I would tell you to wait but I have no idea how long it would take her to show up."

Uzume breathed a sigh of relief as she got up from the ground, "Thank you so much, Histoire." She blinked as she was preparing to leave, "Wait, you're not talking me to the Goddess yourself?"

Histoire shook her head, "I'm afraid I must continue to turn back other humans from entering this place. Though I sincerely hope it will not be a busy day today."

"A busy day? You mean humans come through here all the time? But I've never heard of those reports before." Uzume exclaimed. She knew that people never returned, but she had never heard in reports or government chatter that anyone, outside of the Gold Third, had ventured to Celestia and turned back.

Histoire merely closed her eyes and started to walk away. As she left, she turned her head, "Oh, might I ask what is that item on your hip?" She asked, her eyes now trained on the Dream Megaphone.

Uzume grabbed it, "Oh this thing? It's...oh..." She stopped dead in her tracks. It was probably not wise to tell Histoire that she was carrying a weapon.

The fairy shook her head, "It is quite unwise for me to let you forward knowing that you are armed."

 _'Busted. How the hell did she figure that out? It looks like a freaking megaphone! I didn't even know it was a weapon until I tried it! Just who is this freaking fairy!'_ Uzume thought as she prepared to hand it over to Histoire. She didn't know how she would defend herself, but maybe she wouldn't have to and everyone was just really nice?

Histoire turned, as if she was going to walk over and take it. As she stared at the Dream Megaphone, she seemed to be stuck in a deep thought. After what felt like the third minute had passed, the fairy sighed, "Against my better judgement, I shall let you keep it. It's more than likely Neptune won't appear at her house for sometime if she's off napping somewhere. I would rather you not be killed by one of the other residents here."

 _'Scratch the everyone's super nice part,'_ She thought as she returned the Dream Megaphone back to her hip, "Thanks a lot, Histoire." She said as she walked forward.

* * *

As Uzume left, Histoire huffed loudly, "Croire, I know you're there. If you wish to speak to me, then please come out from the shadows." Histoire said, her voice strained, as she turned a glare towards the darkness in the forest.

After a few moments, out from the darkness, another fairy like being came out. Unlike Histoire, her dress was a dark black. Her blonde hair was much shorter, not even reaching her shoulders. Her wings were also smaller than hers, but she actually hovered on a book unlike her counterpart, "That's pretty unlike you, Histoire. Letting in a human like that. I would've thought you learned from last time."

"I was not wrong to let those humans in last time. They did have good intentions, however I did not anticipate there being an army behind them. Why do you think this time I shall remain at my post?" Histoire said, her eyes narrowing, "And where have you been? It has been quite some time that I've seen you in Celestia. In fact, I believe it has been about three years since I've heard anyone speak of you."

"Maybe you're just not looking hard enough. Besides, you're supposed to be the CPU's guardian; not mine. What have I got to be here for?" Croire returned the glare at the other fairy like being, "Though from the looks of things, I think you'd rather want the rest of 'em all dead. Getting a little bored of your job there?" She pointed in the direction Uzume had gone.

Histoire shook her head, "Unlike some of us, _apparently_ , I would rather see this struggle end and the Goddess and the CPUs return to the world. This place as beautiful as it is, is not the extent that Gamindustri has to offer. She is the first person I have seen in years that I believe could convince the others that the humans are not a failed cause."

"Wow, Neptune got to ya again?" Croire grumbled under her breath, "News flash, the humans have turned the place into freaking wasteland. Constantly bombing that damn place to bits. It's a miracle we haven't been hit by a stray missile. If you ask me, that whole world needs a do over."

"Well, it's a good thing I wasn't. Even in this destruction, we must be able to salvage something." Histoire looked exasperatedly at Croire, "I would think the Goddess's chronicler would have approved of such a future. You would be writing history for centuries rather than just taking note of the events in Celestia, if you've even been doing that." Histoire crossed her arms.

Croire gritted her teeth, "Oh yeah, like I haven't already done that!" She was shaking, "This world has gotten so damn boring. The CPUs don't do anything important. You just walk around like your everyone's mom! And more importantly that bit-" Croire bit her tongue, "The Goddess just hides here and hopes for her damn problems to go away. I told her what would happen if she never put her foot down on the humans when this first started!"

Histoire paused as she replayed Croire's words, "When this first started...are you referring too..."

"Can it. Who the hell cares about them anyway right? I'm leaving. Have fun with your new friend..." Croire sneered bitterly as she disappeared back into the forest.

Histoire looked at the darkness for a moment before running after her. She had never seen Croire so upset before. Croire had often stayed away from her ever since she had been created. Also, if Histoire was being honest, Croire had never seemed to care about anyone. However, Croire had never made mention of the first two CPUs. Histoire never knew much about the first CPUs other than the fact that they had died. The Goddess had never told her much about them, urging her to care for all new CPUs.

Histoire felt something a gnawing inside of her. Something about Croire's last statement was putting her off. As horrible as it sounded, it was very unlike her to become so angry even after their rare (they barely interacted with one another) disagreements. There was also something else. The Goddess had said off handedly that her biggest regret was not dealing with a problem with Croire after they moved with Celestia.

The blond fairy pit her lip, sighed, and continued after Croire. For some reason, she felt it more important to follow her. She mentally sent a message to the Goddess that the human had been found and that she had been sent to her. She also mentioned that she should increase the magical field around Celestia for a few hours. Keeping that level of power up 24/7 had the Goddess locked in a dormant state but she could magnify her power for a limited time if needed to.

And right now, Histoire was going to take advantage of every second she could.

* * *

Update: Wednesday


	3. Chapter 2

**Icetrousle**

It didn't take very long for Uzume to find the house, probably only about half an hour of walking. It was a small little building painted in a warm purple color. There were a few windows, but nothing very fancy. Surprisingly, it seemed to fit. The house itself just seemed to ooze this calming and lazy aura around it. That only added to the flowery meadow it was built on. It was hard to tell which part made Uzume want to take a nap more. The sun shined warmly in the clearing; a nice little oasis in the middle of a forrest.

The girl shook her thoughts free, trying to knock off the drowsy feel she was getting and looked around. In front of the house, a small girl in a blue winter coat and large blue hat sat, drawing in the dirt with a staff. Uzume waved, "Hey!" She said as she walked forward, trying to sound as nonthreatening as possible. She'd hate to have another misunderstanding again like she had with Histoire again.

The small child looked up and noticed Uzume walking up to her. She quickly held out her staff that she had been using to draw, "Stay...back..." She said in a soft voice that couldn't be threatening even if it wanted to be.

Uzume held her distance, "Okay...I'll stay right over here. I'm looking for Neptune. Histoire sent me." Now that she thought about it, Neptune was kind of a dull name. _'Wonder if she's opposed to Nepsy?'_ She wondered as she returned her attention to the girl in front of her. Her dark blue eyes were wide with fear and her hands shook, even though she was holding her staff tightly.

"Histoire? Histoire doesn't let humans go. What did you do to Histoire?!" The child asked again. She stepped back again, but as she quickly looked behind her she noticed that her back was close to the wall. She was going to run out of space soon. And if that happened, Uzume didn't want to see what would happen if she felt like she was cornered.

Uzume gulped, taking a step back. Hopefully, it would be understood that she was not trying to agitate her, "I didn't do anything! Histoire's fine. We can go back and talk to her if you want." She said, trying calm the smaller one's fear. A part of Uzume wondered what would cause this girl to be so scared by her appearance.

"Hey Rom! I'm here!" A voice said as both of girls turned their heads. A lavender haired girl wearing a white hoodie with large pockets and a large zipper with a N on it ran out of the forest, "See! I'm here just like I said! So let's not tell Histy or Noire about the little delay..." She paused as she noticed the scene in front of her, "Oh, hi. Uh...what are you doing here?" She asked as she addressed Uzume.

"She hurt Histoire!" The smaller girl yelled, running past Uzume quickly and behind the other's back.

Uzume sputtered, hoping that this newcomer wouldn't become aggressive based on the the smallest one's words, "No I didn't! She told me to tell Neptune that she sent me. I'm just trying to find the Goddess so I can ask her to come back to Gamindustri! That's all!"

The lavender haired girl looked amused for a moment, before smirking. Though something about that smile made Uzume somewhat uncomfortable, "Oh. So Histy sent you huh? It's okay then, Rom. You can put down the staff."

"Thank you," Uzume sighed as Rom reluctantly followed who must have been Neptune's decision. However, her unease was still there.

"So, uh...what's your name?" Neptune(?) asked. She walked forward to Uzume, sporting that smile that the red haired girl was trying to figure out whether or not meant that she was in trouble.

"Uzume?" Uzume said, gulping under the lavender haired girl's look. Her purple eyes seemed to stare right into her soul.

She chuckled to herself, "Uzume. Well, Uzume...if Histy really sent you, then you must know the password." Her smirk widened into a smile. Uzume felt as if something was crawling up her back.

"Pass...word?" Uzume raised an eyebrow. Which she immediately dropped once she realized the situation she was in, "Oh right. Of course...the password...um...I think she said something about a free pass on that one. Special rush case." She lied, trying to not aggravate Neptune(?). Surprisingly, she could actually feel fear beginning to overtake her. What was with this girl?

The lavendar haired girl shook her head, "No password huh? I don't like it when people lie to me, Uzume. You know what happens to people who lie to me right?" She walked closer to her. Uzume had never been scared of anyone shorter than her in her life until now. Some reason she started envisioning the girl as shark circling around some prey.

"Uh...I'm guess you kill them?" Uzume responded, not adjusting well to the sudden tone shift the girl was causing.

"No silly, they become liars. But liars and bad people...," The girl smirked. Uzume could've sworn her eyes changed color from their purple to a blue. The power buttons that were in her eyes made Uzume freeze in her place, "...tend to get nep'd."

Uzume gulped. She didn't know what getting nep'd was an euphemism for, but she guessed that she didn't want to find out. Something inside her told her to grab the Dream Megaphone, but her brain was no longer communicating to her arms and hands. Instead, it was trying to tell her legs to run but even they weren't listening to her!

One moment.

Another moment.

More moments.

The girl snorted, her eyes going back to normal, "Ah man! You should've seen your face!" She cried as she fell to the ground and started to roll around on the soft grass underneath her.

The red haired girl blinked as she realized what had happened.

A joke...this girl nearly put her heart in cardiac arrest for a joke? That totally wasn't cool at all! Uzume felt her face heat up, "You..."

The girl stopped laughing after a while and got up from the ground. She extended her hand, "Sorry about that. I just couldn't help myself. My name's Neptune. And that little bundle of adorable over there is Rom." She said as she walked over to the brunette. Despite not being aggressive anymore, the girl still seemed to trying to hide behind Neptune.

The lavender haired girl didn't attempt to move Rom so Uzume merely guessed that this was normal for her, "So, Histy told you to pay little ol' me a visit? I guess you're trying to talk to the Goddess. That's the only reason Histy wouldn't have blasted ya. She's like a cute little sentry unit. Though don't tell her I said that. She's got a small size complex." She smiled. This time, it seemed to be genuine happy one and not something that made Uzume want to hide and hug a pillow.

"Uh yeah..." How did that girl go from threatening to not in under five seconds? Uzume shook her head, clearing her head, "Do you know where she is? It's really important I talk to her."

Neptune nodded, "It's not like there's that many people here." She said, though she had gone quiet for a few moments, "Anyway, yeah. The Goddess will be up ahead. If you just got straight from here, you shouldn't be able to miss her. The writer gave her the nicest freaking house in all of Celestia; it's a palace for nep's sakes."

"Alright. Thanks for your help Neptune," Uzume said, ignoring her last quip. She put on a half grin, "Uh, strange question but do you mind if I call ya, Nepsy?" She asked. For some reason, it just felt completely wrong to call her Neptune. Almost as if there was some force that compelled her to call her by this new nickname.

Nepsy looked completely stunned, "Even in a fanfiction, I can't catch a break. And you had just said my name too." She sighed to herself, accepting her apparent defeat, "Well, at least it's still cute. Sure, Nepsy is fine." She said smiling.

Uzume nodded. She glanced to the side of Nepsy at Rom. The girl had been quiet the entire time, but she seemed to be staring hard at her. Uzume decided against talking to her and gave her attention back to Nepsy, "Well, bye. Thanks for your help once again." She said as she prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Nepsy yelled, as if suddenly remembering something. She looked at Rom quickly before turning her attention back to Uzume, "Um...maybe we should come with you. I almost forgot who's in the middle of the path to get to the Goddess and she _really_ doesn't like humans. She'd probably nep ya up into pieces if you tried to talk to her. So we can take a different route there if you want. It's a bit longer, but I'd rather avoid confronting her if possible."

Rom didn't look happy about this arrangement. She was still clinging to Nepsy, but now was supporting more of a betrayed look as she stared at the lavender haired girl. Neptune gave her an apologetic glance. The red haired girl had a feeling Nepsy had just done something rather inconsiderate. She also had a pretty strong hunch that Rom didn't want to go anywhere with her.

The red haired girl shook her head, "Thanks, but it's cool. It's just down this path right?" She asked. She wasn't sure how she was going to get around this person Nepsy was alluding to, but she'd figure something out if the situation came up. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to either her or Rom to stick them both together for her own trip.

However as she moved, someone else did.

"No. I...I won't let you," Rom said. She had left her safety bubble behind Nepsy and moved in front of Uzume, holding her staff. Her hands were still trembling and her eyes were still wide. But there was something different about them. They seemed to show an internal war; something else was clashing with her fear and that was the force that had moved her in front of her.

Nepsy walked forward, "Rom, it's okay. Uzume's a nice human. She definitely wouldn't have gotten past Histy if she wasn't." However, one look from Rom told the hoodie wearing girl that she wasn't moving an inch from her spot, "Rom..." She glanced at Uzume for a moment before sighing.

Nepsy stepped back.

Uzume turned back to Rom. Whatever was going on between the two wasn't her concern. She was going to have to be her own mediator if she wanted to get out of this, "Look I don't want to fight you. And I don't want to hurt you or your friend or anyone else here. I just want to talk to the Goddess." Uzume explained, trying to keep her voice soft and not startle her. Honestly, the girl didn't even look like she wanted to fight. What the hell had caused her to go on the attack again?

She had her eyes squeezed shut. Rom shook her head, opening them once again to show conflicted blue irises, "I won't...let you pass. I'll...I'll be a good CPU and stop you!"

* * *

"Ice Coffin!" Rom yelled, as ice sprung from her staff. Uzume felt the ground underneath her grow cold underneath her feet. The red haired girl quickly rolled out of her way as an spike of ice shoot up from the ground.

She grabbed her megaphone and raised it, preparing to fire a counter attack. She didn't want to hurt the girl, but like hell if she was going to roll over and let her kill her. She had a promise to keep to all of Rebirth. She wasn't prepared to let go of her dream, not until someone tore it out of her dying hands. However, she paused as she noticed that tears were coming out of Rom's eyes. Why would she be bothering with this stupid fight?

Uzume lowered her weapon. Rom had been more terrified that aggressive earlier and only seemed to calm down once Nepsy had appeared. She only went bacl to the offensive after Nepsy said she take her to the Goddess.

" _Your kind has already put the people who live here through enough trouble already."_

The red haired girl took a breath as Rom fired more attacks at her from her staff, ice flying everywhere. This was the result of whatever had happened previously. It had to have been.

The red haired girl screamed into the Dream Megaphone. Orange energy waves broke the icicles that got too close. She needed to get Rom to back down. The question was how the hell did you get a terrified girl to stop being scared?

She couldn't turn around and leave and dashing past Rom wouldn't be a good idea either. The red haired girl looked at the staff in Rom's hands. She was going to need to disarm her. If Uzume was weaponless, Rom might take it as a trick or take the easy kill and continue attacking. If Rom was weaponless, Uzume would have a chance to talk to her without getting attacked (she hoped) but then Rom might be even more scared.

She didn't see any other options. In between the attacks, Uzume started to walk forward.

"No...no...stay back! E Force Blizzard!" She stabbed her staff into the ground. Her eyes were growing more scared as Uzume got closer.

A circle appeared underneath Uzume. The very air around her turned cold as ice sprouted from the ground and started to freeze her. She'd need to break the ice before she'd turn into a human ice sculpture. Despite her shivering, she focused waiting for the right time. If she moved too soon, the megaphone's waves would just hurt her. Just as the ice began to solidify, she yelled into her weapon, shattering it while not damaging herself.

As Uzume fell to the ground, she shivered violently. The ice had just gotten up to her chest before she blasted it and now she was freaking freezing done to the bone. The red haired girl dropped her megaphone and looked up to see Rom still looking at her, shocked and now even more scared. If she wasn't careful, she would probably fire off another attack, "Damn it." She just had to be a nice person didn't she?

Despite herself, Uzume got up and walked closer to Rom.

The girl cowered away, "No...no...stay away!" She yelled, but now Uzume was in range. She grabbed Rom's staff before she could swing it again and threw it onto the ground rather easily. The small girl stared at the taller one with teary blue eyes. Despite having space to run, Uzume was the only thing in her eyes. She was absolutely petrified, "Please...don't kill me..." She trembled.

She closed her eyes, expecting the worst as Uzume moved.

"You freaking kid. You're quite the handful aren't ya?" She said softly. Her voice was sorta uneven from the shivering since she was so cold. Uzume felt Rom stiffen from being hugged, "Hey it's alright. Like I'm said, I'm not here to hurt ya." She sighed, "I've seen enough people get hurt. We don't need to add anymore on the list. I know you're scared and you probably won't believe me, but I'm telling you the truth. And besides, I'm pretty sure your friend over there would've already jumped in if she thought otherwise."

She felt Rom turned her head, and out of a personal curiosity, also looked at Nepsy. She had expected the lavender haired girl to be paying very close attention to the battle. Instead, the hoodie wearing girl seemed to relaxing on the base of a tree a few feet away. Had she even been paying attention for the past few minutes? Uzume looked at Rom, "Does she normally do that?"

* * *

 _"I'll keep you safe. I promise."_

 _"Not all humans are bad. At least, I don't think they are. There's gotta be good ones out there. Otherwise, why would she still wait for one to show up?"_

* * *

Rom stared at Uzume for a moment as if deciding on something and nodded slowly, "She's...pretty lazy...but's she's really nice." She said. She paused for a few moments, looking down at the ground and then back up at Uzume, "You're...not like the others." She offered a small smile.

Uzume gave her a thumbs up and gave one back, "You bet I'm not. The name's Uzume Tennobushi and I'm the coolest human you're ever going to meet." She said, giving her most classic intro. Had it not been for Histoire and Nepsy nearly scaring her to death, she would've properly introduced herself to them.

Rom looked back at Nepsy and then averted her attention back to Uzume, "Miss Noire is up ahead. She hates humans." Rom sighed, "Miss Neptune is the only one who can calm her down but..."

Uzume frowned as she noticed that the girl was now apparently snoozing away and just like that her easy street ticket was out. As she got back up, letting go of the small girl, she sighed, "I guess I'll just have to work something out." She walked over to her megaphone and grabbed it, "I suppose there's no way I could treat her like you right?"

"She'd kill you...if you tried to hug her," Rom nodded. The girl walked over, picking up her staff, and waved it. A soft green glow surrounded Uzume. Despite the cold and wet clothing, Uzume could feel herself warm up. In fact, it was like she had taken no damage at all. Rom looked at her, "If Miss Neptune is trusts you, then I will too."

Uzume smiled, "I'll see ya around, okay?" She said as she walked forward.

Hopefully this Noire wouldn't be so disagreeable. Though, as she looked behind her and saw Rom take a seat next to the sleeping lavender haired one, she also hoped that Nepsy would wake up soon to at least let them both into her house. That couldn't have been comfortable. As she passed the house, she noticed that Rom's drawing in the dirt was still there.

She seemed to have made a crude depiction of two other people. The only thing she could tell was that they wore large hats like Rom.

 _'I wonder who they are.'_ Uzume thought as she continued on her path.

* * *

Update: Wednesday

* * *

 **AN** : Thank you all so much for the reviews, favorites, and follows! For anyone wondering, I may announce projects in passing (or on Twitter), but any time the story actually gets posted, it does get completed (cause they're already written by the time I do and I'm just making tweaks and proofreads here and there. XD) so there will just be weekly updates until it's over. So no worries about a hiatus unless I'm just somehow unable to post on that specific day (in this case, Wednesdays).

Also, I'm gonna try something new. Normally on these longer projects, I respond to reviews every chapter. However, this has been my first major project since I finished my Battle Network series almost two years ago. So instead, I'm just gonna wait until the end of the story before I answer them. Hopefully then any straggling questions will be able to answer any questions that come up and if not, I'll chime in or send ya a PM explaining when the dust has settled. This story has been crazy to write for me, so why not add to it with a new system?

Hope you guys are enjoying the story and see you all next week.

 **Edit (1/25/17): There's a line that I left in by mistake so I got rid of it.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Sword of Black**

Uzume peeled off the vines from her clothes. She just had to take what looked like to be a short cut. Next thing she knew, she had fallen down a cleverly hidden cliff face only to be saved by an entanglement of vines that had acted as a net. The only problem was getting out of the damn thing. Admittedly, screaming into her megaphone hadn't done anything and had pretty much been a waste of time, but she had been desperate!

She had eventually gotten out thanks to some of the monsters in the area. Like the dogoos in the field, the baby bugs, small red bug-like creatures with a short horn on the front of their heads, didn't seem to be that interested in attacking her. However, beyond their help in chewing the vines, they had no want in sticking around or investigating her. They had run off rather quickly after Uzume was freed and able to get to the ground safely.

The red haired girl sighed as she heard her stomach growl. She had never taken care of that food situation from earlier and it had easily been about an hour since she left Rom and Nepsy. As she looked around, she saw a few mushrooms on the ground. The girl sneered at the vile things and merely got up from her spot on the ground.

She wasn't that desperate yet.

* * *

A few minutes later, Uzume had only been able to find a river. What did these girls even eat here? Uzume paused...did they even eat? Come to think of it, they lived closed off from the rest of the world with only the Goddess to provide for them. Maybe the deity just poofed them food every day. What if there wasn't anything to eat around here at all?!

The red haired girl looked glumly at the ground as she held her stomach. Thoughts of Umio's food floated in her head. And she had no idea why she suddenly felt like she could go for some fried shrimp right now, but damn it she was going to need something soon otherwise she was going to go crazy. Maybe she should've followed the baby bugs.

The sound of rustling caught her attention though as a girl wearing a black dress and blue ribbons in her hair walked out of the forest. She walked up to the edge of the river and pulled something out of her pocket. It's handkerchief and what appeared to be a gold locket. The raven haired girl sighed as she dipped the cloth into the water and proceeded to shine it, "Shoot...looks like it got scratched. I wonder if Nepgear can fix it; I'll have to ask." She mumbled to herself as she worked.

"Um...hi," Uzume said softly, trying not to freak out the other girl.

Of course, that was exactly what happened. The raven haired girl shrieked as she threw the locket into the air in panic. Uzume caught it and looked at it. Whoever made it had a real knack for it; the craftsmanship was unbelievable! She could see the small blight that the girl had been talking about, but it didn't seem to detract from the locket's aesthetic at all!

The red haired girl smiled, holding out the gold item, "Sorry about that. Here you go." The gold item was snatched out of Uzume's hand. The red haired girl frowned. Was it not rude to snatch something out of someone's hands here?

Before Uzume could comment, she barely dodged the sword strike that followed immediately after. Where had the blade even come from?

As Uzume got her bearings, she noticed the other girl's red eyes were pretty dark and extremely pissed off. The red haired girl once again, quickly evaded another attack from the other girl, "Hey!" Uzume said. Not this song and dance again. She was beginning to think she should've just dragged the sleeping Nepsy with her, "I was just trying to give your damn locket back to ya! I'm not your enemy here! I'm not looking for a fight!"

"It doesn't matter what you're looking for human. The only thing that does matter is your death!" The raven haired girl said, venom in her voice. She launched herself forward, locking her blade with Uzume's megaphone. Without missing a beat, she kicked the red haired girl in the stomach, pushing her back and giving both fighters more space.

Uzume tripped as she skidded backward and landed on the ground. Despite having the wind knocked out of her, she rolled on the ground, avoiding the other's blade as it sunk into the soft earth. The red haired girl quickly got back up and brought her megaphone up to scream in it. It might do some damage, but this girl actually _wanted_ to kill her. She didn't have much of a choice anymore.

She yelled.

...But nothing was happened. Her megaphone was on the ground, a few feet away from where she was. It must have fallen out of her hands when she landed.

Uzume laughed nervously, "Do over?" Today just wasn't her day, was it?

The raven haired girl smirked. Uzume was officially an easy kill, "Tornado Sword!" Her blade's color turned multicolored as she rushed forward. Uzume ducked, the sword cutting her unfortunate tie in half as she did. The red haired girl scrambled to her weapon as the other girl turned to continue her attack.

While Uzume wasn't a stranger to fights, she had to admit that the raven haired girl was amongst one of the most aggressive ones she had ever fought. The girl didn't miss any opportunity to strike. Of course, that left the red haired girl without any chance to ever figure out how to attack.

Uzume slid on the ground as the her opponent brought down her blade again, narrowly missing her. She grabbed the Dream Megaphone and jumped away, putting some distance between them. Uzume yelled as loud as she could into it. The attack blew away her away but seemed to do very little actual damage to her. The red haired girl looked incredulous at the item. It had blasted through the ice with ease early! Was it on the wrong setting or something?

The Dream Megaphone had been designed to specifically combat the CPUs in Celestia. Uzume assumed that the girl in front of her was a CPU (Noire more than likely unless there was someone else here who hated humans here) so the Dream Megaphone should have been having an effect on her. As her eyes returned back to her opponent, Uzume gulped as a scary thought burned through her mind.

Was her weapon that weak...or was the her opponent just that strong?

The raven haired girl smirked, "That was the best you had? I won't even need to transform to kill you." The blade returned back to normal, but her red eyes bore holes into Uzume (it seemed that everyone other than Rom seemed to have that ability), "I guess I should just end this now. I'll figure out how you got here later. Volcano Dive!" She yelled, charging forward and leaped.

In that moment, Uzume knew that she was in trouble. The girl's blade had heated up and the red haired one was certain that even if she could block the attack, she was in a world of hurt. And unlike Rom, she probably wasn't going to get healed after all was said and done. If she lived that attack. Uzume prepared herself to jump out of the way as her opponent was falling back down to the ground.

"Critical Edge!"

A split second later, Nepsy was in front of her, her own sword in hand. Even with the other girl's force, Nepsy had been able to block her attack, both of them skidding to mere inches in front of Uzume. The fire that blazed around the blade funneled upward into the sky. The red haired girl could still feel the heat almost singe her.

"Noire, stop!" Nepsy said as she managed - barely - to push her back.

Noire blinked as she gathered her footing once again, "What do you mean, stop? Don't you see who you're defending?! That's a human, Neptune! In case you don't remember, we're supposed to be preventing any of them from getting to the Goddess." The raven haired girl stood her ground but with Nepsy in the way, she didn't advance. However, her eyes were carefully watching for a hole in her defense though.

Nepsy shook her head, keeping her own sword at the ready, "Nope. That's not our job. Actually, to be honest...I don't think we have any official todos in this story. It's actually a nice change of pace." She shrugged and pointed to the red haired girl, "Anyway, Uzume over here isn't a bad human. She's actually really nice. Histy and Rom like her and she's all good in my book."

"They...whatever. She's not okay in my book and that's all that matters to _me_." Noire stepped forward, getting close to the two girls. She stared directly into Nepsy's eyes, "Get out of the way, Neptune." Her blade was turning red again as fire began to surround the metal.

Was she...?

Uzume gritted her teeth, preparing to walk around Nepsy. No way in hell was she going to let her get hurt on her account, "What the hell did I do to you? I was just trying to give you back your freaking locket and then you attacked me for no damn reason! You didn't even give me a chance to explain what I was doing here!" She argued. Nepsy put her hand out, stopping Uzume from advancing. The dark glare from Noire reminded her that Nepsy was her only safety net in this situation.

"That reason is none of your business, human!" Noire yelled back, sounding more livid by the second. Her red eyes blazed almost as much as the sword in her hands. Uzume was really wishing for Rom's personality back because this stubborn one was beginning to piss her off. And in a few moments, she was just going to walk around Nepsy and kick this one's ass!

Noire shifted her stance, backing up only a tiny bit. Just enough room so that if she did attack, she'd probably only _barely_ miss Nepsy. The red haired girl growled, "I think it is when you try to freaking kill me!" She had here megaphone at the ready. Even if it did only push her back. Even if this girl had abilities that could trounce her own hand to hand. There was no way she was backing down from this.

"Ohh...will both of you just taking a nepping chill pill already!" Nepsy yelled. She tried to diffuse the whole situation by putting her arms out to separate both girls. However, being the shortest of the group meant that she had the smallest wingspan so the distance wasn't that much. Unfortunately, her cry hadn't been enough to grab the attention of the two girls.

Nepsy hung her head, "Just listen to me!" She shouted. The appearance of an purple circle underneath all of the feet caught the two combatants attention. The fact that it was glowing told Uzume that the lavender haired girl was preparing her own attack, "You two are really starting to get on my nerves. I don't want you both to fight. So the two of you calm down otherwise I'm going to nep ya both!"

Uzume took a sharp breath and lowered her weapon. She may have been pissed, but she didn't want to fight Nepsy. Noire, on the other hand, still looked ready to fight. Nepsy sighed and the purple circle dissipated. As the two exchanged a glance, Noire's blade began to cool. However, her glare was still as cold as even.

The lavender haired girl shrugged and put on a smile, "Alright, with that outta the way, let's restart this encounter! So Uzume meet Noire. Noire meet Uzume." She said, trying to be more positive.

"I don't care what her name is!" Noire was glaring full force at both of them. Her grip on her blade was tight as her knuckles went white. It seemed like a miracle that the sword's handle wasn't crushed under her hold.

Nepsy shook her head. As she looked back at the raven haired girl, she seemed more disappointed and tired than upset, "Noire...please...we don't need to fight. We can just all be happy. Maybe the Goddess will listen to her and we can...well..." She trailed off as Noire's angry glance intensified. Still Nepsy gained a determined look and met her stare, "We can actually go to Gamindustri. It'll take Rom a while. Heck, she'll probably just be hanging around us for a few years, but eventually she'll get used to things. Even though a log cabin in the woods with you has had its own appeal...don't you want something different?"

"We don't share a house. Don't give the human ideas." She said, blushing slightly, "And the only thing I want is her and all the other humans dead! Any one of them who steps foot here should be destroyed! I don't know why Histoire or Rom let her through and I sure as hell don't know why you're defending her." She looked away. She blinked and wiped the corner of her eye, "You all are being stupid! Don't you remember the last time this exact thing happened?!" Noire screamed. Her red eyes seemed to soften before hardening once again, "I won't let it. Not for a second time!"

Between the talking, Noire had seen an opening in Nepsy's defense and dashed forward. Once again, Uzume only had a small amount of time to react. She brought up her megaphone hoping it would survive the hit.

But it never came.

The clatter of a swords averted her attention. The two girls had fallen to the ground; their weapons joining them only a few feet away from them. Nepsy was...more or less clinging onto Noire, thus preventing her from moving properly as the other was trying to get back up and retrieve her blade.

"You can't, Noire. She didn't do anything wrong!" Nepsy yelled, holding onto the raven haired girl's waist, "You'll be just as bad as the humans that..."

Even Uzume felt the air grow cold as Noire glared at Nepsy and her voice trailed off. The lavender haired girl didn't attempt to put up a fight as she was shoved to the ground. Noire's red eyes seem to glow with anger. Her fists were balled, "Don't. Finish. That. Sentence!" She was seething as she looked away from the girl and then back, "How dare you? How dare you!" Noire screamed, her voice reaching a new high.

Nepsy looked down and shook her head. She didn't move from her place on the ground, "It's not right. Uzume hasn't done anything bad. Neither did..." She gave a glance back up, looking at both Uzume and Noire. Clearly whoever they were talking about was either off limits in general or just in front of Uzume, "Neither did she. So, if you kill her, then you're just as bad as the humans that attacked us!" She said, her purple eyes surprisingly serious.

She was actually attempting to counter Noire's glare!

The raven haired girl looked away as her body trembled. She walked over to her sword and picked it up. The blade seemed to glow red with power as the air around it began to swelter. Her eyes darted to Uzume, then to Neptune, and back to Uzume.

Her sword's glow disappeared in addition to the weapon herself, "When I find you again, you're dead." She said. Her red eyes were serious, but there was something eerily familiar about them. Something that Uzume had seen once before. The girl's sword disappeared in a stream of numbers as she stalked off.

After a few moments, Nepsy sighed and shook her head, "I guess I'm in the dogoo house for that one. You okay, Uzume?" She asked, finally getting up from the ground and looking at Uzume. Her own sword disappearing in the same fashion as Noire's had.

"Uh yeah. Thanks for sticking up for me." Uzume said lamely, her mind still playing catch up after that rollercoaster, "Is she going to be okay?" The red haired girl asked, gesturing in the direction Noire has left. Up until that moment, she could care less about how that girl felt but...where had all that pain come from? It was a look she had seen in so many of the rebels' faces after a long battle that only ended in defeat and the loss of many.

"Normally I'd say yeah, but I think I rattled her a bit too much. I should've guessed she didn't want me to bring her up while you were still there. She doesn't like it when I talk about her normally." She gave a half hearted chuckle, " I guess we should be happy that she decide to just drop it for now, right?"

Uzume stared at Nepsy as the lavender haired girl picked up her head, "Well, I should go catch up to her. It's bad news if she pouts all day long and the last thing I need today is her running into Rom and chewing her out accidentally. Plus, if she's talking to me, then she's not looking for you right?"

Uzume watched Nepsy as she flashed her a smile.

"Why?"

Nepsy cocked her head, "Why what?"

Uzume asked, "Why would you help me? Rom was scared of me. Histoire barely trusts me. And Noire pretty much hates my freaking existence. Why are you so different to them?" It just didn't make it any sense. Nepsy was the one person in all of Celestia who didn't seem to automatically hate her guts. How could she when everyone else was seemingly okay with just killing a human on sight with no questions asked?

Nepsy looked thoughtful for a moment, "I guess I'm just a good natured protagonist. Even if the story is following you around more than me, I'll still be the best main character," She said as she shrugged. She gave Uzume a wink when she noticed her confused look, "You should get moving if you want to see the Goddess. She should be that way," Nepsy said, pointing in the distance. She winked, "See ya later, Uzume." The pink haired girl said as she left in the direction Noire had stalked off in.

Uzume sighed as Nepsy ran off. She supposed it would be too soon for her to be trusted with such a reason. Plus from that argument with Noire, she guessed that perhaps that whatever fight with the humans had also affected her.

Just what had happened?

She had been thinking of it earlier. The one Gold Third member that had returned, B-sha, had been very silent about the result of their expedition to Celestia. The Rebirth movement had discovered that Avenir had been funding the Gold Third to explore Celestia through various reports, but they had never believed that that had been to end of their involvement. They just had no way to prove it. Nepsy said that Celestia had been attacked.

What if Avenir employed the Gold Third to do it?

The red haired girl sighed and shook her head. It was only a thought, but she had a feeling the company that kept Lastation in a militaristic state had done something rather sinister to this place and only time would tell just how much of a problem that would be. However, today wouldn't be the time to think about that.

She needed to get to the Goddess.

* * *

Update: Monday (It's a two parter!)

* * *

 **AN:** Interesting Nepertale behind the scenes moment.

IF was supposed to be the "Undyne" of the story. However, due to a choice to make Celestia only full of CPUs, this was cut out and Noire was placed instead. I just couldn't justify a reason for IF to be living with CPUs and still keep the contempt there. In addition, Compa and Peashy were supporting characters to IF's story; but for similar reasons, they both were cut from the story. Also, something I forgot from last week, "Papyrus" was probably one of the hardest characters for me to pick on. Crazy, right? You'd think I'd just go with Nepgear. At one point, I had even run with Plutia. However, as you saw, this was not in the final version.

If you're wondering why the _Undertale_ characters are in quotes, it's cause in Nepertale they would be inspired characters and not exactly the same nor having their exact same storyline.

Hope you all are enjoying the story and see ya next time!


	5. Chapter 4

**Memories - Nepgear and the Metal Nepper - Part 1**

Uzume's growling stomach got to her before anyone else could. It had been about twenty minutes since she left Nepsy. In hindsight, she probably should've asked her what she could grab for food around here before she left. The red haired girl sighed as she dredged along the path. She really could use a break for a little while, if only just to have a chance to find something to eat.

She sighed as she began to daydream. Oh, maybe she find some in little house like Nepsy's. It be a nice little field where nothing would bother her and everyone wouldn't try to immediately fight her. There'd be a plate of steaming hot food and there would be a bed to take a nap in. And...

Uzume blinked...her mind catching up with her thoughts. Luckily no one could hear those, right? She really needed to get something in her system. She could rest after she got to the Goddess.

As she walked though, Uzume turned her head. There actually was a house there. It was purple themed, almost like Neptune's but maybe just a tad bit lighter. It was a little off the way, but there was a trail right to the front door from here. The red haired girl pinched herself. Nope...still awake. Uzume stared in the direction of the building. Neptune hadn't said anything about another resident.

Maybe that was a sign that this one didn't care about humans?

* * *

Uzume knocked on the door and took a breath. She had her hand on her megaphone's handle just in case the person on the other side (if they were even home) came out swinging. At this point, three out of four people she had met today had tried to kill her more or less out the gate. At this point, it was better to not be careless.

"I've got it!" She heard someone say after a few moments. The red haired girl raised an eyebrow; she had never heard anyone sound that...dopey before. Well, maybe after some of the rebels got in a few drinks. However, that only made them ridiculously rowdy and a pain in the ass to deal with. It was only thanks to Umio that some soldiers didn't wake up with a hangover and a broken jaw.

The door flew open.

"Hi, my name's Uzume. You wouldn't happen to have any..." She said, her mouth running before her brain in attempt to get the food she so desperately wanted. However, the person's face in front of her managed to break that mental rail road, causing the train to go careening off the tracks to crash and burn at the bottom of her mental abyss, "Uh... _who_ are you?"

"Hi! I'm Nepgya!" The lavender haired girl said happily as if nothing was wrong.

...

She had a nice...smile?

Nepgya wore a white sailor uniform with a yellow scarf. A small leather band with an N on it held the two ends of the bandanna together. However, that wasn't her most notable feature. Her eyes...they were an large abyss of white with large black circles around them. Uzume wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation. After not receiving much of a response beyond that, Nepgya turned her head, "Nepgear, you have a visitor. It's a human!" She called out to the person in the house.

"What a...oh goodness!" Uzume heard several objects thud and clang as they hit the floor inside the house.

Nepgya looked back to see the damage, "Oooo...uh...just a minute!" She winced as she turned around to tell Uzume. Without missing a beat, Nepgya shut the door on her, leaving Uzume outside wondering what the hell had just happened.

"Owie..." A voice moaned.

"I'll help you!" Nepgya said, in her - normal? - happy, dopey voice. She didn't sound too concerned over what had happened, but then again maybe it wasn't anything serious?

The red haired girl wasn't quite sure what to make of the sounds of random clutter being thrown around the place. She supposed she should've been happy that there wasn't the sound of a power drill like she had seen in cartoons when she was younger.

Soon enough though, the noises calmed down and the door was opened once again. Despite the two having the same exact get up, this one at least possessed a normal face with normal purple eyes. They were actually quite similar to Nepsy's when Uzume looked at them, "Um, hi! I'm Nepgear. Ending with an -ear and not a -ya. So, uh what brings you here?"

* * *

"Wow...that's some day, but I wouldn't worry about Noire. Neptune should stop her from coming after her. Though I'm surprised she got into an argument with her. She normally tries to avoid those." Gearsy said as she pulled up a chair next to Uzume. After entering the house, the lavender haired girl had been nice as to share some of the sandwiches she had made earlier.

Nepgya was off helping to clean up the mess of robotic parts that were on the ground. However, Uzume had noticed that the girl kept on sneaking glances at her, almost as if she was constantly checking on her. After meeting Noire earlier, she guessed that Nepgya was just concerned over having a human in the house.

Uzume nodded, agreeing with Gearsy's assessment, "Nepsy seemed to have a way with her. Just the fact that she got her to back down was amazing. I thought I was a goner." While she had been walking, the shorter girl's actions had been replaying in her mind. She still didn't know why Nepsy had defended her. Histoire had almost certainly been referring to her when she said someone in Celestia had hope in the good of humanity. Still, just the reason of why that belief was even there confused Uzume. Something had to be inspiring it, but what?

Gearsy laughed nervously. She tried not to look into Uzume's eyes and glanced elsewhere, "You probably would have." She put a finger to her lips, as if in thought, "Then again, Noire doesn't have a kill count so I don't have anything to base that on." She said with a smile.

"If Histoire didn't hold me up earlier, I probably wouldn't have believed you about Noire." The red haired girl sighed as she stared down into the tea cup in her hand, "I'm still surprised that she let me go after meeting you guys. She wasn't kidding when she said that humans have caused a lot of trouble here, did she?"

The lavender haired girl looked away from Uzume. This time though it seemed more out of sadness than nervousness, "Yeah, they did." She shook her head as she put on a brave smile, "But you don't seem like a bad one. After all, you got past everyone else so far. Plus, I don't think bad humans knock and wait outside the door for someone to let them in."

Uzume was about to counter that statement, but another glance from Nepgya had her convinced otherwise. She wasn't a bad person, but that didn't stop psychos from doing that just to get close. She flashed Gearsy a smile, moving on returning her thoughts to the shorter of the sisters. Would Gearsy know Nepsy's reasons? Uzume knew she shouldn't pry into someone else's business, but she was just getting so damn curious about the girl.

Trying to untangle her mind from the enigma of Nepsy, Uzume shook her head and decided against doing so, "Anyway, you do a lot tinkering Gearsy?" The place was filled with random designs. Though for someone with so many ideas, she didn't see many products in the house. Maybe the parts Nepgya was picking up was all she had?

The lavender haired girl's face brightened. Clearly it was something that brought her happiness, "It's more of a hobby. I love making little gadgets and gizmos. Plus, robots are really cool!" She said happily as she turned her head to face Nepgya. If Uzume didn't know any better, she'd swear that sparkles were in her eyes, "Though Nepgya's one of my favorite creations I've made."

"Oh coo...wait..." Uzume eyes widened as she looked at the near identical copycat, "You're a robot?!"

"I'm made from Nepgear's funny face components!" Nepgya said in her dopey fashion. As if to make her point of being a machine, she picked up a ton of the heavy looking robotic pieces and walked towards the wall. She stuck her hip out, activating pushing in a small panel. A piece of the wall slide up and Nepgya walked into what was apparently an elevator and descended below the house.

Something told Uzume it wasn't a basement.

Gearsy touched her fingertips as she noticed the red haired girl's baffled face, "I sorta have an underground lab. It's where I do most of my tinkering since it takes up way too much room in the house. But yeah, Nepgya's one of my earliest models I've put together. If you're wondering about the face, that's um..." She trailed off, her face becoming sad for a moment.

The change only lasted for a few seconds, but it was long enough for Uzume to catch it.

"It was a joke one of my friends had come up with. She always said I made funny faces, mainly when something went wrong. She told me that it made her smile. So I made Nepgya with one so she'd always get to see my funny face." Gearsy mumbled audibly as her face went red towards the end.

Noticing this and feeling a bit cheeky, Uzume smirked and looked slyly at Gearsy, "This friend of yours...you wouldn't happen to like her would you? After all, I don't think anyone just goes out of the way to build a robot for someone just to make 'em happy." She said, hoping to get a funny reaction from the girl.

However, all she caused was Gearsy to retreat further and hold her hands in her lap. At first, Uzume thought she was just being shy, but then she noticed that now Gearsy seemed to be crying. She had stiffled any noises she could make, but something was certainly wrong. Whatever had happened to this friend couldn't have possible been good? Maybe the relationship soured? Or...maybe it was related to this incident that happened some time ago?

As Uzume was about to speak, something held her back. She had found it weird that Nepsy had never bothered to say anything about Gearsy. For the girl to have saved her life and then just leave out her sister; it didn't seem to add up. It was clear that she believed that Uzume wasn't going to hurt her, but then why the secrecy about Gearsy. Did Nepsy not trust her enough to tell her about her sister? Or...was she afraid to say anything about her?

It was clear that something was hovering over Gearsy like a dark cloud, probably related to this friend and and whenever the residents were attacked. More than likely, she was probably killed in the fight. However, the problem was that the red haired girl didn't know where she fell in all of this. Only these girls knew the story. Knew a history that seemed to run counter to the one she had been taught.

Uzume let out a long sigh. No one in the land trusted her enough to giver her a damn clue to work with, even the one that liked her most. The red haired girl couldn't help but feel a little bit betrayed. She knew that she was an outsider and that the girls had no reason to tell her what was really going on. However, that didn't stop her from wanting to know.

The red haired girl shook her head in frustration. Maybe in time she'd learn the truth, but today wasn't going to be that day, "Anyway, maybe you can show me this lab of yours?" She said, putting on a small smile. If she was going to bring back the Goddess, she was also going to need to help the girls out. After all, part of this journey would've been for nothing if she didn't.

Gearsy looked at her. Eyes that were filled with so many emotions switched to just one: _fear_.

"What...did you say?" She asked, her voice was uneven.

"If it's a problem, you don't have to. I just thought it'd be cool to see some of your inventions." Uzume tried to backtrack. She thought tinkering would've returned Gearsy back to her happy self. However, the only thing her request had done, was cause the lavender haired girl to shake.

* * *

 _"Wow Nepgear. You must have a bunch of cool little gizmos! You've gotta take me to this lab of yours! I need to see them all!"_

 _"I can appreciate the niche. All my friends think bug catching is weird, but I still like it. Hey maybe you can invent me something that'll make it super easy to catch bugs?"_

* * *

If Uzume didn't know any better, she'd could've sworn that Gearsy was about to have a panic attack. The red haired girl reached out to her, but Gearsy dropped back, her reaction nearly flinch-like "I'm sorry but I need to get to my lab. Could you please let yourself out? You can have the rest of the sandwiches." She mumbled as she quickly got up and departed for the elevator.

Luckily for her, Nepgya had just come back up, allowing her to race in and descend again.

The only noise hear was the near silent sound of the elevator leaving.

The robot looked at Uzume with a frown on her face. It was rather disturbing considering she had been wearing a smile the whole time Uzume had been there. To add to the guilt forming in Uzume's stomach, instead of saying something like, "Please leave.", the robotic girl just shook her head and walked off to another point in the house.

Uzume sighed. So much for trying to get Gearsy to trust her. At least she didn't have to fight anyone this time. The red haired girl looked at the opening for the elevator as she walked to exit the house.

She stopped.

She had been asked to leave.

She could just go and meet the Goddess; Nepsy had already told her the way.

Uzume sighed and waited for the sound of the elevator to come to a halt before recalling it.

She needed to fix this.

* * *

Update: Friday

* * *

 **AN:** Totally biased statement but Nepgya...best DLC character of the series. Reason why? A friend and I were playing through VII the first time and we had a miserable time in Noire's story. So K-sha used her EXE on Nepgya who was the highest level character in the party at the time. She only lost half health and her last words as the attack ended were: "I'm fine." XD She was the highlight of that whole arc for me.


	6. Chapter 5

**Memories - Nepgear's Lab - Part 2**

The place was quite sterile, if that was the word for it. Various blueprints and parts scattered the few tables. Even more machinery could be found all over the floor. It was almost as if Gearsy couldn't decide on a single project and tried to work on all of them at the same time. There was a white board of various project names and numerous deadlines. However, from the looks of things, many of them had been pushed back or delayed for quite some time.

At least the place was well lighted. However, the ever stillness of the lab made Uzume feel uneasy. As she stepped through the elevator, she realized that all was not silent. If she focused, she could hear the sound of uneven breathing and a dull and repetitive _tink_.

Uzume turned her head to investigate the noise. She saw Gearsy apparently fiddling with some items on the desk. As the red haired girl approached her, she could hear her mumbling something. She couldn't make out what it was though. When she reached the lavender haired girl, Uzume looked over her shoulder. The _tink_ was coming from the girl trying to force two parts together. The only problem was that, from their cut, that was a physical impossibility.

"Gearsy?" Uzume said, trying to get her attention. She turned the lavender girl's face to hers. Her irises were unfocused, rapidly shrinking and increasing. Her breathing was irregular. There seemed to be a bit of a cold sweat on her forehead. The girl was having a full blown panic attack, "Gearsy, calm down! Listen to me, damn it! Calm down!" Uzume urged, trying to get the girl to snap out of it.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry..I'm sorry.I'm sorryI'msorryImsorry," She muttered over and over again. Gearsy was clearly gone, locked in whatever little mental prison she had trapped herself in. Uzume felt horrible; what she said had set all of this off...whatever the hell that was. However, she had no time for the self pity or to figure out what had caused this.

The red haired girl grabbed the other's head and forced her to look into her eyes, "Nepgear, you're safe. No one's going to hurt you. You're in your lab. You're okay, but you need to calm down. Just relax, please..." She said, trying to get the girl to slow her rapid breathing.

* * *

 _"This is your fault! You f*cking bitch!" She roared. The girl's lavender hair was fading, turning into an electric blue, "I'll kill you for what you did to me. To us! I'll kill you over and over and over again! I'll kill you 1,000,000 times if I have to!" She cackled, her eyes filled with madness and hate. Her logic was clearly gone and instead was replaced with this all consuming rage. She tightened her hold on Nepgear more and more with each passing second._

 _The lavender haired girl was trembling. She had only been gone for a few minutes. She didn't think the human would touch anything. She didn't even know there was anything dangerous down here she could have activated._

 _Unconsciously, her hands were clawing at her attacker's arm._

 _Unconsciously, she was fighting for her life, trying desperately to get air that was being denied to her._

 _Unconsciously, she was trying to figure out how all this happened and who this person was._

 _Consciously, she was trying to beg for forgiveness._

 _She didn't know what she had done. She didn't know what was happening. However, whatever this was had come out of her lab._ _Whatever was going on was her fault. Something in here had gone horribly wrong and she was to blame for it all._

 _"Ah look at you...I can't have you getting off that easily."_

 _Suddenly, the lavender haired girl was thrown into the wall. She landed hard against the surface; the back of her head took the brunt of the hit._

 _"What the hell is going on down...!" A voice said. However, Nepgear was no longer able to make it out._

 _Her vision blurred as her consciousness began to fade in and out. She could hear people talking but could no longer make out what they were saying. She lazily picked her head up. The elevator was close by. Her body felt like a sack of the heaviest metal. She tried to drag herself towards it, but failed as her arms were no longer responding to her._

 _She heard an explosion and light bursted through the ceiling. As whatever had destroyed her lab made its escape, Nepgear finally faded off into the sweet dark abyss._

* * *

Uzume breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Gearsy's eyes beginning to react normally to light once again. Her breathing became regulated, a much better improvement from the hyperventilating mess it had been moments ago.

As she came back, the lavender haired girl touched her face; tears had been falling down her face. She blinked a few times before shaking her head, "Wha? Uzume...what are you doing here? I thought you left." She asked, clearly confused after coming out of the fog.

"I was going to, but something told me to check on ya. Good thing I did," Uzume started before looking at Gearsy seriously, "Nepgear, I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't know it would have that effect on you, but that's no excuse for it. It was out of place." She apologized sincerely. She still didn't know what she had said to set Gearsy off so much, but she still felt bad for being the spark for the panic attack.

"It's okay. You were...you didn't know," she responded softly as she tried to get up from the ground. Unfortunately, her legs were still weak and she almost fell back down to the ground again. Moving quickly, Uzume grabbed her before she could do so.

The red haired girl helped her up to her feet and they both walked towards one of the chairs in the room. She placed the other one on the seat, "Do these normally happen?" Uzume asked, more out of concern than anything else. She couldn't imagine Nepsy not being around if they did. The girl didn't strike Uzume to be the neglectful type. She shivered slightly when her mind briefly thought about how bad this could'v gotten. She didn't know what tools Nepgear used to make her inventions, but not all of them could've been safe.

Gearsy shook her head. She seemed to finally recover from the attack, "It's been a while since I've had one, especially one that bad." She looked back at the red haired girl, "I'm sorry you had to see that. I...I don't have the fondest memories of humans." She said, holding her shoulder, once again trying to retract into herself.

"It's cool. I don't either if it make you feel any better," Uzume said, trying to make a joke (although it was also kinda true as well). She had meet a lot of good people; hell she worked with many of them. However, she also knew of and fought against humanity's dark side. The world she had come from was an...interesting place to say the least.

Gearsy smiled softly for a moment. A few moments though, it dropped. She looked down at the ground in silence, "I...I'm a bad person."

"Huh? What's this about?" Uzume asked, confused by the sudden confession. The lavender haired girl certainly didn't seem bad, but...something was definitely eating at her. The red haired girl grabbed one of the remaining chairs in the room, moved it closer to Gearsy, and sat down in it, "I know you just met me, but if you want, you can talk to me about it. I mean it's not like the Goddess is going anywhere." Uzume offered. She didn't want Gearsy to launch into a story only to panic once again, but she also didn't want to leave her just like this.

A pause.

Gearsy sighed, "We've been attacked twice by humans. The first time, the only one who died was the human. I don't really remember the battle; I was knocked out. Since I live so close by to the Goddess, she was stopped pretty quickly." She stopped for a moment before continuing, "It was my fault the human attacked us. Something happened to her...something bad.

"I...I was working on something that could transfer energy from one device to another. But the item is was working with I thought...I didn't know that." She shook her head, "It doesn't matter. I should've never tried to experiment with it." She took a breath, before shivering slightly, "I caused that human to die. I was the one that..." She stopped herself once again, "No one knows what I've done. I tried telling Neptune. I tried telling Uni. But...I can't! I can't tell anyone! They'll hate me! Just like she did!"

Uzume watched as the girl broke down in front of her. She didn't seem to be slipping into panic mode, but rather the guilt of whatever she had done was now consuming her in full. After some time, she managed to catch herself and calmed down, but she was remaining silent.

"...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that..." She finally said, numbly.

The silence between them continued for a little while until...

Uzume started chuckling to herself. Gearsy look at her, confused (and probably a bit betrayed and scared at this point). The red haired girl composed herself, "Sorry, but I was just thinking that compared to me, you're a saint." She said, a bit of resentment in her voice, "At least you didn't know what you were doing right?"

It took a while for Nepgear to realize that was a question for her to answer, "...Yes. I thought the items were a power source, but that's not what they were."

Uzume nodded, "A few months ago, I was part of a raid on an Seven Sage post close to the Lastation and Planeptune border. Mainly, it was to interrupt their communications, but we had also heard that they were developing some weapon to come to Celestia. It was the first time we had ever heard about it, so we decided to act before any damage could be done." She looked at the Dream Megaphone, "That night, I got five people killed. My best friend is freaking paralyzed because of me. All because I made a bad choice."

She placed her weapon on the table, "It was my call to withdraw or push forward. We only needed to get to one more terminal to steal all the data, but we already had what we needed. I should've known the second we attacked that place that sleaze in the mech suit would've caught on to us. By the time we got the data, we were already surrounded."

She looked at the lavender haired girl. Purple met red, "I was the one who got greedy. I'm the one who landed my best friend in a wheel chair and costed five others their lives." She turned her head away and stared at the wall, "I owe them and a lot more for their sacrifices. So no Nepgear, I'd say you're not a bad person at all. Even if you did something terrible, you're good. Anyone who's evil doesn't feel guilt over what they've done. And...I think you've paid enough."

A silence filled the room. Only this time, it wasn't nearly as unnerving. Rather, it was almost comforting. Two souls who had barely meet each other and yet probably understood what the other was going through more than anyone else did.

"What helped you get over it?" Gearsy asked, genuinely curious.

Uzume shook her head. The memories of her stubborn, guilt ridden self floating through her head, "Other than the punching bags? It took Umio clocking me in the jaw before I started moving on from it." She subconsciously rubbed near her chin. If she thought about it long enough, she'd swear she could still feel the sting. Despite being paralyzed from the waist down, he still had a hell of right hook.

The red haired girl noticed the other looking at her surprised, "Don't worry. I'm not going to hit ya. Though you are going to need to move on from this, Gearsy. I can help you talk to Nepsy and the others if you need support. Though, I don't think you have anything to worry about; I doubt your sis can even get mad at you." She said, a smirk on her face.

The lavender haired girl nodded, wearing a soft smile, "She's been there for me. She used to spend a lot of time here, especially when I had panic attacks. And every time I'd have one, I'd wake up to her just waiting for me to come to again. She had practically moved in with me until I finally stopped having them." She turned and looked at Uzume, "...It's weird. I know you're not my sister, but it's so easy to talk to you. Kinda like how I am with Neptune - minus that one problem. It's almost like there's something similar between you too."

"Histoire said something like that too." The red haired girl mumbled to herself as she shrugged.

"Oh! You're here to ask the Goddess to come back to Gamindustri, yes?" Gearsy asked, her mind recalling their earlier talk. Uzume nodded.

"Maybe if we're together again, I can finally apologize," She walked over to a cupboard and rummaged around it for a few moments. As she came back, she held out two black d-pads. Other than the color, they looked exactly like the ones in Nepsy's hair, "I know it's a strange question, but you've never seen someone wear these before have you?"

"Outside of Nepsy, no." Uzume said. Nepsy was the only one who she had ever scene put those things in her hair. She couldn't really imagine anyone else pulling that kind of style.

"I thought so." Gearsy looked seriously for a moment before it faded, "I want to apologize to them. Her family. I don't care how long it takes or even if I'm talking to graves. I just need..."

Uzume grabbed her hand, looking at her seriously, "We'll work on that after I get the Goddess to agree to come back. I promise."

Nepgear's eyes widened.

And with tears in the corner of them, she nodded, "Okay."

* * *

Update: Wednesday

* * *

 **AN:** Thanks to everyone who's been reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting. I forgot to say that on Monday and I apologize for that. I'm glad you all are (I'm assuming here) enjoying the story.

I don't have any real behind the scenes moments to share outside of the fact that the True Lab moment was someone's in the original outline for this story. This was later changed and added Nepgear's plot due to a scene written after True Lab.

That being said, as we'll temporarily close out our time with Uzume next week, but it won't be over yet. After all, we still have some other elements to cover. As always, I hope you all are enjoying the story. Have a nice week.


	7. Chapter 6

**ARFOIRE**

After leaving Nepgear's, she had continued down the trail for almost an hour. However, as the Goddess's palace became closer and closer, she came to a fork in the road. before arriving at the Goddess's palace. The place was built out of marble and had this glow around it that seemed that it could welcome anyone to it. Unlike the other houses, the Goddess's home had been built in an area where the forest and meadows stopped. Behind it lied that of a mountain range. The wind blew for the first time Uzume recalled since she had gotten there. It was cold, but not biting.

As she walked forward, she couldn't help but notice a rather large stone slab next to the home of Gamindustri's deity. On it where four items: an axe, a spear, a staff, and a rifle. As her eyes traveled towards the center of the memorial, she noticed a label which read: _To Those We've Lost._

Uzume sighed. These must've been the weapons of the fallen CPUs. She wasn't sure if this was a burial site, but it was clearly a memorial. Perhaps they had made it as a way so that the Goddess would be always watching over them. As she gave the area one last look, a wind blew once again. This time, it chilled her right to her bone. She suddenly felt that she shouldn't be here. In contrast to the rest of the environment, she could feel something almost telling her to back off. Deciding to follow her gut, she backed away from the CPU Memorial.

The moment she returned back to her path, she felt the force back off. Despite appearances, even this place wanted her to leave some things alone.

She continued forward until she read the palace door. She took a breath. This was it. This was the moment she had traveled for. The moment when everything would become worth it. The moment when she could fulfill everyone's dreams.

Uzume knocked.

* * *

The Goddess was nothing like Uzume thought she would have been. The deity had grey hair and wore a rather simple dress. Rather than sit on a throne, she seemed to be lying in a bed. However, Uzume could feel the power she radiated from where she stood a few feet away. If Noire had been a challenge for her, the Goddess would have been an impossibility. It was nothing like Nepsy's and the others, though maybe if they all worked together they might have been able to at least get some jabs in on her.

The red haired girl bowed respectfully, "True Goddess."

A few moments passed.

Uzume lifted her head up. She should've suspected not to get an answer. After all, the deity was probably in a bed for a reason. However, this was its own dilemma. Could you wake up a goddess and live to tell the tale? She knew people back at the base who might actually kill someone when they were woken up before their shift. Having lived this far and no idea how the Goddess would react to her movements, Uzume decided it might be best to wait a moment before trying anything.

Luckily for her, it didn't take long before she received a response.

"I'm sorry, human. I use quite a bit of power to keep this border around Celestia and even then it is less than perfect. Normally I talk through my chronicler, but she appears preoccupied at the moment. I would wake myself, but I don't wish to disrupt my barrier again." A voice said, speaking from inside the room, "My name is Arfoire, though you know me as the True Goddess. Why have you come here?"

"Oh right..." Uzume said as she glanced at the Goddess's sleeping form. She was honestly shocked that she got a response. That and the fact that she was talking to a disembodied voice was throwing her for a loop, "I wanted to ask if you could come back to Gamindustri to rule over it, like you used to. I know we messed up, but please. Give us another chance." She took in a breath before continuing, "The ones in power now...they're destroying our world and soon we won't be able to save it from them. We've been trying so hard to stop them and there's a lot of us who just want to see peace. But, we can't do it without your help."

There was a pause, as if the Goddess was considering her words. "...Three years ago, four humans came here to request the same thing for me. However, shortly after they were guided here by Histoire, my land...my safe haven for the CPUs was invaded. While I do not sense any other humans coming through the barrier, I wonder if you plan to misguide me. I am well aware of Gamindustri's anti-share weapons. I know you possess the means to kill the CPUs. So, why should I believe you?"

Uzume could feel her blood run cold. The Goddess didn't trust her. Not that she didn't expect that, but her hopes were raised after talking to Gearsy. The red haired girl's eyes widened. She promised Gearsy she'd convince Arfoire to return back Gamindustri. She said she would help her find that human's parents. And her fellow comrades, she promised them that she wouldn't return unless the Goddess was with her.

She steeled herself as an idea formed, "Before I answer your question, let me ask one. What's an anti-share weapon?"

"It's an item specifically designed to kill CPUs; it's like poison to them. When I first told the humans about them, they mistakenly called them Central Persecution Units. I hadn't believed that the humans had distrusted me so deeply. The fact that this definition existed showed it." The voice sighed, "I thought letting the Console Patron Units live with them would change their minds. They're beings born to help humanity; after all they are created from their faith in me. Instead, they created those weapons to kill them."

Uzume looked back at the Dream Megaphone. The design had been based off of technology in the Six Sages' database and not Avenir's. Since they were the ones who sponsored the Gold Third, they were probably the ones in control of this anti-share weapon.

"Arfoire..." Uzume said seriously. "Please...as a sign of good faith, allow the Rebirth movement to take down Avenir. I believe they're the ones who have these weapons. They don't talk to the other nations and out of all the aggressors, they're the most dangerous to both the CPUs and us." It was a gamble and a rather large one. However, if she didn't give Arfoire something, she might not agree to come back.

Avenir held Lastation in a constant state of military rule. Out of all the ruling factors, they were the most war invested. From their reports, Uzume knew they spent much of their time advancing their weaponry. They had been coming up with different ways of taking out their political structure so the whole machine fell down on itself, but hadn't made a move out of concern that the other powers would quickly take advantage of the situation. If the Goddess came back after their plan, they would be able to take back Gamindustri in one swoop.

Arfoire seemed to think about this proposition for a while, "This was war has taken much from us hasn't it? I was surprised when more CPUs were born after Orange Heart and Blue Heart. I...I never truly handled the situation during that time correctly. I foolishly believed that by ignoring the rebellion's cries would silence them. I thought showing them the good that was being down myself would only prove their point. The same greed for power that rules now if the same entity I didn't stop years ago. And for that, I have created more chaos and harmed more people than I ever thought I could.

"I've wanted to return to Gamindustri. To fix my wrongs and to help those who called for me. However, I could not abandon the CPUs. I could not allow them to suffer once again. So I stayed away. When those four humans appeared, I thought that perhaps now the world was ready. But then...well...that day should me that they still did not want the CPUs."

Uzume held her breath. She didn't know much about the popular opinion of the CPUs. She knew that there was still little data on them, but she didn't know how people outside the ruling factions felt about them.

How did she feel about them? She had barely met them. Did she really care about them or were they just a means to an end?

Arfoire seemed to chuckle, "Do not worry, human. I do not sense any misgivings in your heart. In fact...you seem to possess something even the Gold Third didn't have."

A soft purple glow surround Uzume before leaving her body and gathering itself into the form of a purple sphere.

"This is share energy. It can only be created by belief in me. However, this is the same power that gives birth to the CPUs." Arfoire explained as the orb began to hover up into the ceiling. As it touch it, lights of blue, green, purple, orange, black, and white began to dance across the room, "When the Gold Third came to my palace, all four members were unable to produce a single share. Despite their want for me to return, they did not believe. You, however, well...I believe whatever experiences you have made you quite certain in your faith."

"But what does this have to do with Nepsy and the others?" Uzume asked, though she was being somewhat distracted by the lights coming from the ceiling.

"The CPUs are beings created out of this energy. If you hated them, you would've stopped believing in me. This is why I was surprised when Neptune and the others were born. After Orange Heart and Blue Heart were killed, the Sharacite went dead. I thought the whole world had completely turned its back on me. At the time, I suppose it had. I thought I would never see the crystal's light ever again." Arfoire said, her voice seemed to hitch for a moment before continuing, "And though your shares, I can feel those who believe in you. You have quite the fanbase. If you were a CPU, I believe you would be very powerful."

Arfoire let out a breath, "I will amend your deal. If you can destroy the all of anti-share weapons, regardless of whether you destroying this faction, I will return back to Gamindustri."

"...You're serious?" Uzume asked, completely surprised at just how easily the request had been fulfilled.

"Of course. I'm not that cruel." She responded.

There was a silence in the room before the red haired girl broke it with laughter. She pumped her arms in the air, "Alright! I'm so freaking psyched! Thank you so much!" She was going to be able to help Gearsy. The world was going to be okay. Everything was finally going to be okay! She looked up into the celing as the lights continued to move, "I have to return back, but I promise I'll come back when the job is done. I can't thank you enough for this, Arfoire."

"There is no reason to thank me. I am to blame for some of this. It's time I actually start to deal with these problems." She said, "Well, I imagine that you have some work ahead of you. I believe this will be farewell for now."

Uzume nodded, "Yeah. I'll come back. That's a promise."

She turned around and heading out for the exit. As she pushed the door open, she looked back at the lights. She'd come back here...she'd make sure of it.

* * *

 **AN:** And that's Uzume's story all wrapped up in a bow...for now. There is someone else's story that still is left open in this "True Pacifist" run. However, we're going to move on from those two for the time being and move to a different group.

Though, I wonder...how do you get a group of CPUs to tell you about their past? After all, if they trusted Uzume enough the would've told her. So I guess the only thing left to do is switch perspectives. XD

...

 **:)**

* * *

Update: Wednesday


	8. Chapter 7

**Hopes and Nep / Saving Croire**

"Ah come on, Noire. How long are ya going to be mad at me for?" Neptune asked as she leapt over another overgrown tree root. Unlike Nepgear, Noire lived relatively close to Neptune. However, her house was alone in the middle of the woods. She actually liked the quiet that it provided for her. Histoire and Rom lived with Neptune, so around her place was always more lively. Speaking of the girl, Noire had been doing her best to not look at her for the entire time they had been walking.

Neptune sighed, "It's been three years, Noire..."

Noire turned on her heel, her red eyes still smoldering with anger, "So what? Neptune that wasn't not your place!" She yelled, "You still have Nepgear! I...She had no right to know!"

She still couldn't believe how far Neptune was willing to go for this human. It hurt knowing Neptune would of all people would bring her up, especially in the company she did it in. Still, she had realized that Neptune was determined to ensure nothing happened to the human. So, she had left the human alone with all intentions of returning back to finish the job that Rom and Histoire couldn't. However, the lavender haired girl had followed her into the woods, now forcing Noire to go where she could shut the door on Neptune and enjoy the quiet once more.

The silence that she shouldn't be enjoying.

Neptune shook her head, "I wasn't telling ya that all humans don't deserve it. Just that _that_ particular one didn't. Not all humans are bad ya know. Remember those four from three years ago? They were nice."

"Yeah, nice enough to lead an army straight to our doorstep in case you don't remember!" Noire shouted, not believing the words coming out of Neptune's mouth. She could feel her rage beginning to spill over. Neptune may have been her best friend, but she needed to get away from her now before saying something she would regret.

Neptune continued, "It wasn't their fault, Noire! Otherwise why would they have even bothered fighting with us in the first place! I know you're mad but you can't take out it out on every human you meet! That's just as bad!"

Noire sneered, her anger beginning to over take her once again, "Oh yeah, is it just as bad? Let's talk about three years ago for a second. After the humans attacked, everyone was was confused. Blanc was already wounded after trying to protect Rom and Ram! Vert was shot! Our sisters... _your_ sister locked themselves in her lab until _I_ saved them!"

The raven haired girl stared right into Neptune's purple eyes, stopping mere inches in front of her, "By the time you stepped in, it was already too late! And why was that? All because you decided to take a nap." She grabbed the girl by the hoodie, "And even after all that, you're just as lazy as you were now! Sleeping who knows where most of the day! And protecting the humans who took them away from us! Who took Uni away from me!" She released the lavender haired girl's clothes from her grip, "You think I'm bad? You're worse. You're the absolute worst!"

Silence filled the air.

Neptune hung her head, "I really did mess up back then, didn't I?" She mumbled in a low voice. The smaller girl turned around, looking as if she was preparing to leave Noire alone.

As she saw this, Noire paused. She had done the exact thing she had tried not to do, didn't she? She walked over to her and took her hand, "I'm sorry. I...I didn't mean...you didn't deserve that." She frowned as Neptune pulled it back. The lavender haired girl could hardly be at fault for Uni's and the others' deaths. She had no idea what was happening just like the rest of them. Plus, the humans hadn't come from her side of Celestia; thus, she hadn't heard the action until later.

The lack of sound between them was disturbed the black haired CPU much more than it probably should've.

"Rom fought her too," Neptune mentioned. She still wasn't facing Noire, but for some reason was still sticking around. Noire could feel her stomach knot. She didn't need Neptune to turn around to know she was hurt by what she said. She could hear it in her voice. The lavender haired girl probably only brought up Rom just to try and move the conversation away from the wreck it had just become.

"Really? I thought she was afraid of humans?" Noire asked, actually shocked. Rom was easily the most easily scared of all the CPUs. She would've been surprised if the girl had even talked to her.

Neptune shrugged. Her voice caught for a second before she cleared it, "I guess she really wanted to make Blanc and Ram proud. She couldn't go through with it though. I didn't ask her why, but I think she felt it. The same thing Histy must've too. The same thing I wished you did too. We don't have to stay here forever...we're not supposed to..."

"Uni didn't deserve to die that day. None of them did." Noire sighed, her rage out of her voice. She never knew where Neptune's belief in the humans came from and she had never really cared. The humans had taken Uni and that was that. They deserved to die for their horrible actions.

"That's why we can't just do the same thing!" Neptune said, turning to look into Noire's red eyes with her own reddened purple ones. Noire felt her conscious fill with more guilt. She was the one who pushed the happy go lucky girl to that limit, "We'll be just as bad as the ones that took Ram, Blanc, Vert, and Uni! Histy only kills the bad humans. I've seen her spare good ones and send them back to Gamindustri!"

Noire blinked as she heard Neptune's confession. Histoire spared humans? Out of all the people on Celestia, she thought that Histoire would've been one of the only people, other than her, who would have destroyed any human who entered without question. So to hear that Histoire seemed to be doing the opposite of what she expected was a shock.

Neptune shook her head, "I sorta promised Histy I wouldn't tell...but I guess the Nebby's out the bag." She closed her eyes and sighed, "The Goddess's protection isn't perfect. Sometimes, humans just get through. I guess that's the whole reason why Histy was created, but she doesn't kill everyone. Not anymore. Now, she just tries to get them to leave. When they don't, that's when she neps them." She rubbed her eyes with her sleeves.

"But you guys wouldn't like that. You would've just waited at the perimeter all the time for someone to come through until the end of time for a chance to kill more humans. Rom wouldn't even step foot around where I live even though that she likes it there. I honestly don't know what Nepgear would've done and that scares me more than anything. So, when I found out...I promised Histy I wouldn't tell anyone. Even if she hadn't caught me, I wouldn't have told you because I know what the humans mean to you guys. I...I didn't think that was a life any of you wanted." Neptune said, her head hung.

Noire could only stare at Neptune. On a first glance, she should be furious. Her goal was to eradicate any human that dared to return to Celestia and Neptune dared to keep her from completing that mission.

But for how long had she been planning on doing that? How long would her anger hold out before she just became hollow? It wasn't something that she had ever considered before. Noire shook her head. Neptune had always been lazy. It was her thing. And surprisingly, it was that speed that made her the mediator of Celestia. Everyone had to slow down to her because her attitude was just so damn infectious. Even to continue hating humans, Noire had to keep her distance from her for the past three years.

Without warning, Noire pulled Neptune in a hug, "I'm sorry. I...I..." She apologized, holding onto her tight. Neptune didn't return it, merely choosing to stand still. She had a right to. It wasn't like Noire had treated her very nicely. They were probably barely friends at this point.

"I...I promised Blanc that I'd take care of Rom and Ram." The lavender haired girl mumbled. Her voice was cracking, "By the time I found them, Ram was already going. I didn't know where you or anyone else was until the smoke cleared and..." She said, muffled as tears started falling.

Noire shook her head, "No. It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known. I was just mad and saying things that didn't make sense. I'm so sorry." She said, trying to get the small girl in her arms to stop crying. Neptune was someone no one liked seeing cry.

Even after all this time, Neptune had tried to help them all in whatever and every way she could. She was still as lazy as ever and that was probably just some character flaw that could never be overwritten, but no one could say that she didn't care for her friends. _'You idiot.'_ She thought as Neptune seemed to gain control of herself.

As she stepped back, Neptune wiped her eyes, "Man, that was a thing..." She said, laughing weakly.

Noire looked back at the lavender haired CPU in front of her. She wasn't sure where she and Neptune stood now. However she was sure of one thing. She was going to need to do much better. Neptune hadn't forgotten the others. She had just learned how to believe in something the others had't seen: a hope for better tomorrow, "Come on. Rom's probably waiting for you back at your house." Noire said with a small smile.

Neptune nodded and started walking in the direction of her house. After a few steps, she turned and looked behind them, "You think Uzume will be okay?" She said, her voice sorta out of it after the emotional roller coaster.

"I..." Noire started, looking at Neptune. She huffed, "I think she'll be fine. She survived an assault from myself, Rom, and probably Histoire. I don't think that she'll have anything to worry about." She had turned away from Neptune in order to save whatever fragment of pride she had left so she hadn't seen Neptune smiling at her.

Neptune grabbed her hand, "Come on you big loner, let's go home."

* * *

"For the love of..." Croire stopped. She hopped off of her book, dropping an item on it in her haste, and marched straight up to Histoire, "Take the hint already, Histoire! Stop following me around will ya?!" She yelled.

Histoire shook her head. She had been tailing Croire for the entire day to make certain that she would not do anything drastic. What that would be, she wasn't quite sure herself. Something had told her that if she didn't make sure to watch the other unit, things would take an unnecessary turn, "I am well aware of your wishes. However, I am merely ignoring them. I might be inclined to live if you tell me about what you mentioned earlier."

"Screw you." Croire snapped as she turned again to jump on her book. Even with a flying book...Histoire had wings. So, the prospect of escaping her was actually not as simple as others would believe. However, unfortunately, she was still mostly polite and had been requesting Croire speak to her about the CPUs she had mentioned in exchange for her privacy.

Histoire hadn't known for Croire to care about the CPUs or anyone else for that matter. The older being had been quite cold since she was created and that distance had neither helped her relationship with her predecessor. At first, she believed that Croire just resented her. Though soon it was clear that she disliked _everyone_. After the human had - somehow - become a CPU, Croire had become even more withdrawn. She had become a rare sighting in the land, barely even saying hello to anyone.

What surprised her even more than Croire's behavior was the Goddess's reactions to it. She had remained largely unfazed by her, at least so it appeared.. It was only after the second attack, that the deity revealed that she felt guilty over Croire's attitude. She had added an additional memorial next to other one, but later had it hidden away. At least from any human's view; if the CPUs had seen it, they had never asked a question about it.

The blonde fairy's eyes widened. She hadn't considered it before but it was possible that Croire personally knew the previous two CPUs. She had been told that the previous CPUs had been killed, but never the reasons behind it. She had just assumed there were none to tell.

At the time of Neptune's, Noire's, Blanc's and Vert's birth, according to the Goddess, Croire was not an apt choice for protecting them. Thus, Histoire had been made to serve in place of her. While the CPUs lived in Celestia peacefully, Histoire had became somewhat of a caretaker to them. When Nepgear, Uni, Rom, and Ram were born, the small guardian decided that she just wanted to make sure that they lived a happy life.

If she became so attached to the CPUs, then was it possible that Croire had done the same?

The blonde fairy grabbed the other's hand before she could leave, "Wait... Croire...I should apologize. I...I hadn't realized that you knew them." In truth, she still didn't know for certain. However, it would explain her hesitance on the subject.

Croire's face darkened. She sneered, clearly a nerve had been hit. "Oh boo hoo. Listen Histoire, I'm not interested in talking about those two and I sure as hell ain't interested in talking to you! So just buzz off!" She yanked her hand out from Histoire's grip and strode towards her book, which was barely floating above the ground.

"So then what's with that device?" Histoire asked, pointing the machine that Croire just picked up to get back on her book. She had noticed it earlier during her "chase" but hadn't thought too much of it. Still the fact that Croire was just carrying it around was something of interest. After all, the only one who could build or design something like it was Nepgear.

"It's nothing." Croire said quickly, too quickly.

Before she could hop on her book and leave, Histoire grabbed her again. This time her grip on her arm was firm. Due to their different job descriptions, Histoire had more fighting capabilities and strength than the ability-less Croire did, "Croire. What. Are. You. Planning." She asked, though some part of her told her she didn't want to know.

Croire glared at Histoire. They both knew her request was not a question. Still, if there was anyone in the land who was going to talk back to her, it was Croire. "None. Of. Your. Business." She said in an equally strained tone of voice.

"If you do not tell me the truth," Histoire stopped. Croire was clearly riled up now. Talk of the Goddess would always get her angry. She steeled herself for the incoming reaction, "I will bring you before Arfoire and get you to tell."

"Don't bring her up! If it wasn't for that bitch, Kurome and Rei would still be here!" Croire yelled. She got up in Histoire's face, eyes glowing with anger, "You think I liked watching them die?!" She had tears leaking out from her eyes, "She did nothing to help them! They're both dead now because of her! Because of the humans. And what do they do now that their world is going to shit! They create even more CPUs. Cause now they _care_. Now they want their second chance with the new replacements!"

Croire's face was covered by her hair, "And she just wants everyone to forget what happened. But I'm not gonna. She can't make me! I won't forget them again." She pulled the device closer to her, but now Histoire could see the bottom of. Behind the glass bottom was an orange glowing CPU Memory, "I won't let her make me forget again. I'll bring her back. And then we'll make it right. No one can replace them."

She paused for a moment.

"I hate you..." She said, numbly. Her small body was beginning to tremble, "I hate you... I hate them! I hate all of you! I hate HER! I hate her so freaking much! I HATE-"

 _SMACK!_

Croire was blindsided by a sudden slap. It had been a powerful one too, causing her whole face to turn.

Histoire sighed. She hadn't wanted to hit her, but it was clear to her that Croire had no intention of stopping her tirade by herself. She brought her hand to her side, "Are you calm now?" She asked, keeping her voice even.

The darker dressed being looked away, not interested in talking with her and more concerned about nursing the reddening cheek. Histoire shook her head. She had deserved that one. Croire was probably not going to talk to her now. However, now that she had been temporarily freed of her haze, she might listen to a different story.

"Rom likes stories read to her before going to bed." Histoire started. There was no use in apologizing right now. However, perhaps this new approach would show her that she had people she cared about too, "Neptune's tried on several occasions to tinker with various objects to be able to work with her sister, but her inventions seem to always...explode. Noire likes to dress in different costumes when she thinks no one is looking. The amount of work she puts into them could put many seamstresses to shame. At least, I'd imagine. Nepgear loves each robot as if it were a living being, but she keeps smaller versions of the others CPUs in her room as a way of remembering those who have gone."

Croire huffed, clearly trying not to listen.

"Ram always pranked whoever she could, even me on some days. The only one she ever spared was Rom. Actually, you were certainly be one of her victims if she thought you were being mean to her sister. Blanc's fanfictions only ever entertained one person, Vert. Though to this day, I'm not quite sure how. Speaking of her, Vert was absolutely brilliant at making game ideas. Though a bit obsessed with some of her party ones at times. And Uni was probably the most competitive of all the CPUs if only to try and catch up to Noire. Although, I swore that she had had her eye on Nepgear for quite some time before she passed." Histoire reminisced, "That's only a couple of things about the current CPUs. I could tell you more if you wish. However, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to hear about the ones I never meet."

The darker dressed fair grumbled, "What's the point? They're dead." She said, still not looking at Histoire.

"So are Uni, Vert, Blanc, and Ram, but I still remember them. Just because they are gone, doesn't mean we need to forget them," Histoire said calmly. On some level, she understood Croire's feelings.

After the second attack, she had hated herself for her failure. All she wanted to do was drown her sadness in something else. As a result, any human that dared stepped into land had been eradicated. The thought of sparing them no longer occurred to her. For some time, this had continued. That was until one day she had gotten into an argument with Neptune. It took the CPU's victory for her to realize that she couldn't continue down her path.

Croire shook her head, growling. "I didn't forget them! I'm the only one who didn't!" However, there wasn't a lot of anger behind her eyes anymore, just a lot of hurt, "She tried to make me...but I didn't..."

"If you tell me, there would be more who remember." Histoire said, softly.

Croire was silent for a few moments before she sighed, "Rei was a giant pushover. She'd always try to do something and whenever someone asked a question about it, she'd freak out. She was actually a pretty sweet girl though. Kurome was the tougher one of the two, but she still looked out for Rei too. You could almost say they acted like sisters.

"It took them about a year before both actually gathered enough faith to break away from the Sharacite. For a second, I thought they were going to be like babies, but then Kurome ended up asking me why I was staring at her." Croire shook her head, "I was supposed to be recording history; but after they were born, I don't know, I guess I sorta started recording them. Then, _she_ decided it was a good idea to send the CPUs out to the world. I told her that the humans had already started spreading rumors that they were spies for Arfoire, but she told me they would change their opinions once they meet. I tried to tell them not to go, but they still left. And then...they were gone."

Histoire nodded as Croire looked up, "And it's her fault they're gone. If she'd only listen to me, they'd still be here!"

"Croire...do you think Kurome and Rei would have been happy in Celestia?" Histoire asked plainly.

"I...they..." She sputtered.

"We've been here for quite some time haven't we? The CPUs have made a good life here I imagine, but this place cannot provide everything." Histoire looked at the forest around them, "The CPUs are a byproduct of the humans's faith to Arfoire. Therefore they should be with both Arfoire and the humans. It's not fair to either side to keep them restricted."

"After I failed to protect Uni, Vert, Blanc, and Ram, I just wanted to destroy all of humanity. I even contemplated leaving Celestia to do so." Histoire sighed, "One day, Neptune caught me by the borderline. When I explained what I was planning, she made a bet with me. If she won, I would stay. If I won, she would take my place. Obviously, she was the victor.

"I was...less than pleased with the results." Histoire took a breath, "It wasn't until a few days later that we talked. I found her lazing around in one of the meadows. Somehow we got onto a conversation about humans. That night, I learned that one of the members actually saved her life. The rest of the group was had been helping us fight. She thought that if there were humans like the Gold Third, then there must be more who share that belief. Plus, just here being here was proof of good humans.

"I hadn't thought of it that way before. After some time, I found myself asking them again to leave. I...I couldn't continue destroying them without mercy. It would have dishonored the humans who tried to help. Who saved Neptune." She put a hand on Croire's shoulder, "I'm familiar with your loss, Croire. However, you don't need to continue to hate. I am not here to replace you. Neptune, Nepgear, Noire, and Rom aren't here to replace Kurome and Rei. Arfoire may not have always ruled correctly, but we don't need to add to the darkness in this world. Please...let it go."

"No. I can't. She'll just make me forget them again!" She stepped back, holding the device close to her.

Histoire shook her head, "I won't allow it. They deserve to be remembered just like the others. I promise I won't let them be forgotten by anyone. Not anymore." She said, her voice serious.

Moments passed.

Croire looked down at the device, staring at it. She reached for the cover, pulling out the CPU Memory. She moved her attention back to Histoire, "Kurome and Rei won't be forgotten?"

Histoire shook her head, "None of them. I promise"

"I...I don't know what I'm feeling like..." She said.

"That's okay. I help you figure it out." Histoire responded.

She sighed, "I'll hold you to it."

Croire dropped the device.


	9. The True End

**The Ending**

It took six months for the Rebirth Organization to disable and destroy all traces of anti-share crystals. With the path clear and the combined power of the rebels, CPUs, and Arfoire, it took little over two weeks to clear out the other factions. All three groups had underestimated the faith of the people, causing their fall to be much more swiftly than they ever suspected.

Now, humans and CPUs both live together in peace. Nepsy and Gearsy set up shop here in Planeptune. Noirsy went to Lastation, though she's at the border. I guess she wanted to still be close enough to come by. Romsy stays in Celestia with Histy and Croisty. I'd say it would be lonely for her, but two more CPUs have been born recently: Iris Heart and Yellow Heart. Iris Heart decide to find a place in Planeptune to live. Yellow Heart still lives in Celestia. I hear with Romsy there, they have their hands full.

Memorials to the six CPUs lost were built in different parts of the world as an official apology to the CPUs and Goddess.

Rather than stay in Celestia, Arfoire travels between the continents to check up on people. I'm not sure how she used to really, but she seems like she's being proactive. There are a few misconceptions still in the air, but we're working on ironing those out. We haven't found the parents of the girl Gearsy was talking about, but we're still looking into it.

It may take a long time for the wounds to heal, but I think we'll be alright. For once, it doesn't feel like the world is going to end. And as long as we can keep things going like this, I don't think we'll have anything to worry about.

-Uzume Tennobushi, Rebirth Commander

* * *

 **AN:** I know what some of you might say: "Where's _that_ route?" It's a valid question since to those familiar with _Undertale_ , I left a pretty blatant foreshadow as to what was coming. In truth, I was intending to start releasing Nepertale's bad end out this week. However, after thinking about consistency, I thought I would wrap up Nepertale's good end in a nice bow this week. Despite it helping in understanding a few more things in the ending, doing the bad version in the middle of the last section of the good route is not great design. So this week, we wrap up the end of Nepertale's good end.

Next week: **:)**.

So what did you all think of Nepertale's "Pacifist" route? For those who know (and don't) what's coming, I hope you stick around for next week.


	10. Corrupt File: Chapter 1

**An Alternate Chapter 1: Your Best Fairy**

Uzume yawned as she continued to walk through the forest. She honestly had no idea where she was going. As she looked up into the sky, she noticed that the sun was still high up. As she turned her eyes back on the road, her mind began to take a mental check of her inventory. She should probably focus on finding some food and water soon. Getting here had taken longer than she thought and thus she had already exhausted her resources.

Snapping her out of her thoughts, a sound caught Uzume's ears as she grabbed the Dream Megaphone. Based on the previous data of any CPU interaction and some stolen info from The Six Sages database, the megaphone had been designed as the perfect weapon to take to Celestia. It was created with the purpose of subduing and not killing, after all there was no way the Goddess would agree to any of her terms if she killed the people she seemed to protect.

"Hey, watch where you're pointing that...is that a megaphone?" A voice asked. A fairy like being floated out from behind the trees. She wore a black dress and sat on a strange red circle above a dark purple book. Her blond hair stopped just at the top of her neck. Her blue eyes watched the Dream Megaphone carefully.

Uzume stared at the fairy girl for a moment, before blinking and putting the megaphone away. It was probably a bad idea to be threatening the first person she saw, "Oh, sorry, my bad. You startled me." The red haired girl responded before she extended her hand, "Uzume. Uzume Tennobushi." She greeted with a cool smile.

She looked at it for a moment, before shaking Uzume's, "Croire. So, what brings you to Celestia? Actually...better question. How the hell did you get here?" Croire asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I managed to get through the fog and walked down the first path I saw. Actually I'm kinda lost if I'm being honest," Uzume said, putting a hand behind her head. There was no reason to tell her exactly how she had gotten through the fog. Besides, the Visual Radio was busted now so there was no point in explaining it, "Oh, hey. You wouldn't happen to know how to get to the Goddess would you? She's actually the reason I'm here."

Croire's face seemed to darken ever so slightly at the name of the Goddess. However, the change barely lasted long enough for Uzume to register it, "Yeah, I know where she is. I'm her...chronicler." Croire said, grumbling towards the end.

 _'Great, I'll get there in no time now!'_ Uzume thought as she smiled, not noticing the animosity in Croire's voice, "Awesome! Would you mind pointing me in that direction?" She asked eagerly.

The dark fairy smirked, "Not at all. But...I do need you to do something for me." Uzume looked at Croire confused as the fairy sighed in apparent disappointment at the red haired girl's response, "Listen, a lot of people here hate humans. If I let you walk around here, not only would I have them to deal but more importantly they will kill you and _then_ yell at me for letting you in. I'd rather not be subjected to a certain someone's lectures today. So, I need you to hold this for me." She handed Uzume a black box with a soft orange glow around it.

"What is this thing?" Uzume asked as she palmed the strange object in her hand. She felt strange holding it. It seemed to have it's own life within its glow. Speaking of which, just how was it doing that? The small item was definitely something she had never seen before in her life or in an report she had ever read.

"That little thing? A friend," She smiled as she pulled out a small device from behind her back. She directed it towards Uzume and tapped a button before the she could even register what was happening.

The red haired girl yelled as she felt a shock run through her. She heard Croire laugh. She started to feel woozy. Trying desperate to keep her tilting balance, she lifted her head to look at the dark fairy, "What...the hell...did you..." Uzume started as she tried to reach Croire. However, her vision had already blurred and she only swiped at air. Due to her movement, she stumbled forward and fell to the ground.

"I did what I promised I'd do. You can do whatever the hell you want now. The Goddess still lives in the same spot she always have." She started to fly away, before she looked back at the girl on the ground. Her eyes softened, "And...please...don't die again."

Uzume tried to pick herself off the ground, but her strength failed her and she once again collapsed. Her head was killing as a sudden headache began to pound in her skull. She could barely breathe. She laid there gasping for air; her irises were shrinking as her body went into shock.

"Oh...and by the way...tell Histoire I said hi when she finds you..." Croire's voice faded as Uzume soon slipped away to the land of dreams.

* * *

 _"Huh, what're these?"_

 _"Oh wow, but why are you giving them to me?"  
_

 _"Well, thank you!"_

* * *

When Uzume woke up, the first thing she was aware of was the presence of a continually pounding headache. The second thing was the fact that she was being dragged and pretty slowly too. As she collected her senses, she could hear the huffs of someone trying their hardest to move her.

Uzume shook herself, trying to free herself from whatever had their hands on her. The sound of a yelp caused her to stop. Without missing a beat, Uzume got up from the ground and readied herself for action. Or that's what she would've done if she didn't nearly throw up upon standing. Damn vertigo.

"Ow..." A small voice said, drawing Uzume to look down at its source.

Her eyes raised again. It was another fairy. Uzume was beginning to wonder if that was a theme or something. Though unlike Croire, she wasn't floating on a book. Her purple dress and large hat with a _N_ on it seemed to clash with the thought that she was dragging a body in the middle of the woods. As Uzume looked around, she realized that the fairy had only managed to move her about three feet from her location. How long had she been out?

Uzume walked over to her megaphone, which had been left on the ground and walk back over to the fairy, "So mind telling me why you were dragging me off?" Now that she checked, the fairy was probably only about one third of her height. Which actually made that feat of three feet rather impressive for a girl of her size.

The fairy shook her head, "My apologies. You were passed out and you needed to be removed." She said, plainly.

"Oh yeah? Who said anything about needing to remove me?" Uzume asked, her patience beginning to go. This feeling of irritation was beginning to rise from within her. Then again, that was probably more of the headache and being dragged talking that any actual malice. At least she hoped it was.

"Your presence is not required in Celestia. Though now that you are awake, I can formally ask you to leave here," The fairy explained. For being a sort of guard of this place, she wasn't particularly threatening. Was this some kind of joke? How much of a chance was it that she had actually passed out in the fog and having the strangest of fever dreams?

Uzume gave the fairy a blank look before turning around, "Well, I'm sorry but I can't leave. I need to go find the Goddess." She just needed to follow Croire's...right...she never got directions from her. Just a massive headache. _'Great, as if today can't get any rougher. I'm beginning to wish this part really is a dream...'_ Uzume thought as she huffed.

It was unlikely that the fairy was going to help since she seemed to be solely concerned with getting Uzume to leave. So her original plan was about as good as it got. Plus, she was going to need to track down Croire to figure out what the hell she tried to do to her. She didn't physically feel very different, maybe a little achy but nothing beyond the normal. It was her mental state that she was worried about. Along with her worsening mood, she could feel herself becoming more and more irritable by the second. The strange part was that she couldn't even isolate what was causing her to become so pissed off.

As Uzume took another step forward, the fairy ran up ahead to stand in front of her, "I am sorry, but I cannot allow you to proceed. I ask that you please turn back." She said, more sternly this time.

Uzume huffed, becoming annoyed. She marched up to the fairy and glared at her, "Look...I don't know what you're name is. Anyway, I'm tired. My head is pounding. I just got attacked by some other random fairy. And all I'm trying to do is go see the Goddess. If you know where she is, great. Point me in the right direction and we're cool. But if you don't, do me a favor. **Get out of my way.** "

The red haired girl blinked. Somewhere in the middle of that speech, she had grabbed the fairy's dress by the neck area. Had she been about to pull her up from the ground. Uzume quickly let go and backed up, looking shocked at her actions. What the hell was going on with her? She wasn't like this. Sure, she could get fired up, but something about this felt way too aggressive to be her style, "I'm sorry..." The red haired girl said, venturing a small step forward.

The fairy flinched. A moment ago, she had seemed mildly interested in what Uzume was saying, but that had quickly faded once Uzume threatened her. The fairy quickly recovered and shook her head, "No. I most certainly cannot let you through. Please return home."

The red haired girl understood. She really did.

However something moved her forward, " **I said,** **Get. Out. Of. My. Way.** " Uzume said through her teeth. This time with no holding back, she lifted the fairy up off the ground and pulled her to meet her eyes. These actions...they weren't her doing it. She couldn't have been doing this. She wasn't like this!

She tried to calm down, but nothing could stop the irritation. It just kept building and building and building! She couldn't stop this angry emotion as it was taking over her very being. Trying to overwrite her. What the hell had Croire done to her?

"You...you remind me of another human that came here. Only...oh no," The wings that were on the fairy's back seem to shine, "I cannot let you go. I'm sorry, hum... No, whoever you are. However, I must remove you...from the pages of history."

* * *

The gust of air that came from wings caused Uzume to let go and be sent flying backwards into a tree some distance away. She hit the bark hard and landed back onto the ground. Uzume rubbed her head as she looked up from the dirt and growled. She could feel the rage inside taking over. Changing her thoughts. What were even hers anymore? Did it matter?

Not...not to her. The only thing she care about was letting out all of this rage. And she was going to start unleashing it right now. After all, she would be damned if she was about to get her ass kicked by some little fairy!

Grabbing the megaphone from her hip, she let out a piercing scream. The megaphone converted it into a orange energy wave that boomed out. The attack landed, caused Histoire to fly back. However, unlike her opponent, a blue circle appeared underneath her feet and allowed her to softly hit the tree. She landed safely onto the ground and looked at the red haired girl.

"I apologize for whatever happened to you. However, I am charged to protect the CPUs and Celestia! I will not let you defeat me!" The fairy's blue eyes seemed rather genuine as four bright orbs appeared around her enemy. Green, purple, orange, and blue surrounded her, leaving the red haired girl no paths for escape, "I am Histoire. And I shall erase you from the pages of history!"

Histoire stretched out a hand. The orbs fired beams at the red haired girl for a few seconds before closing in on her location and exploding. Smoke filled the area as Histoire sighed, "May you be remembered the way you were before you came to this place." She said, solemnly. Histoire waited for a while as the dust cleared. Her eyes softened as she saw the girl on the ground, not moving.

"You didn't deserve that...I don't know how you became...that. I will have to tell Arfoire about this." She said, sighing as she began to look around.

While her back was turned, Uzume felt a soft green aura pulse around her. For a while, her thoughts were clear. However, her moment of peace did not last for long. The dark primal rage within was still bubbling at a high rate. She could fell it drowning her again. She gripped her megaphone. Her mind was shifting again. Like hell she was dying here. Even if the whole world wanted her dead, she was going to make it to the Goddess. Besides, no one could stop her...if everyone was dead.

With her last bit off strength, Uzume let out a strangled yell, "Get out of here!"

Her cry caused the blonde fairy to turn around, startled by the sudden noise. But by then it was already too late, she smirked as she got up weakly from the ground, her megaphone in hand.

The blond fairy like being gaped.

 **"I warned...you,"** She said, venom dripping from her voice. She had almost lost her hold on the human. Working quickly to avoid another powerful attack, she dropped her megaphone on the ground. Familiar orange swirls of energy appeared around her fist, **"Stay out of my way!"** She roared as she ran forward. The energy around her fist began to spin faster and faster, almost as if it was turning into a drill.

Histoire's wings glowed once again as she prepared to fire another whirl of wind.

However, she was ready for it. Before reaching to her target, she jumped off to the side. She used one of the nearby trees and launched herself of it like a spring board. Histoire tried to block her, but Uzume's fist struck her hard; the orange drill piercing into her chest. As her attack landed, she grabbed Histoire and threw her directly into a tree. Considering their size difference, the force of the combination was much greater than expected thus causing Histoire to take much more damage.

She landed hard and fell to the ground. The blonde fairy coughed, speckles of blood coming out of her mouth. She being looked down as she tried to get up and gaped at the sudden hole in her chest. Blood leaked out of her wound as the sudden onset of pain set in. Histoire let out a hiss as she averted her gaze back over to red haired girl.

She stared at Histoire for a moment. Her cold eyes meet the fairy's own. The red haired girl shrugged before leaving. She had bigger opponents to destroy. Besides, she didn't need to risk getting hit again and having her hold over this body being shaken again. Though it wouldn't be much longer until it had completely cemented in.

She gave the blond fairy a sick smile and left, heading to the palace.

* * *

Histoire coughed, trying to get up from the ground. That attack was much stronger than she would've ever expected from a human. Then again, if what she believed to have occurred was true, the girl was no longer the same. It reminded her of an attack of the opponent that had tried to challenge the Goddess about ten years ago.

"Hehehe...well look who got her ass kicked," Croire laughed as she hovered down to meet the other fairy like being, "You've looked better, Histoire." She said with a smirk on her face.

Histoire sneered. As if her day couldn't have gotten any worse, "Croire...why are you here?" She coughed, more blood coming out. She had been trying to activate her healing skill, but she found herself out of energy. Rom had accidentally caused a few monsters to become angry and attack them earlier, so she had been still recovering from that.

"I guess she really is only interested in the CPUs, her, and humans." Croire shrugged as if either speculating this for the first time or just suggesting old news.

"How do you know that?" Histoire asked, her eyesight was blurring. It was getting harder and harder to breathe as well.

Croire smirked, ignoring her question, "You know...I've actually been kinda jealous of ya. You were always able to complete your job. But me, nothing interesting ever happens around here. Though I guess that changes today." Histoire looked at the other fairy like being and noticed a small black device in her hands. She tried to reach for it, but Croire moved back, "Oh this little thing? I think Nepgear called it the Portable Transfer System. Though don't quote me on it. She didn't exactly finalize it before I stole it."

"What do...you...plan..." Histoire breathed. She was dying; she could feel it. She tried to send the Goddess a message but it seemed that her ability to do so was being messed with. And the only other person who could do such a thing...was Croire. Both beings had a telepathic link to the Goddess and over the years, they had both learned that their powers could cancel out the other. Although Croire wasn't in possession of any Skills or combat abilities, she more than made up for it in age. It gave her an edge over Histoire in terms of their specs.

Croire shrugged, "Me? I'm just making our history a little more interesting for one more time. But...I don't think you'll make it to see it. Don't worry...I won't let my replacement die alone." She said as she hopped off her book and sat down right next to Histoire, smirking.

Histoire would've scoffed if she had energy left. She and Croire never got along in any of the time after she was created.

From a distance, one might have believed that this was some kind of endearing moment, but Histoire knew better. Croire wasn't staying here our of benevolence.

No, Croire was only here to watch her die out of spite.

* * *

 **AN:** To anyone who was wondering why the story's rating went from T to M two weeks ago, this route is the reason why. Yes, this alternate route is in fact a genocide route. I could've left the story with just pacifist, but I felt like it wouldn't be complete without it. That and...I already wrote it and wanted to show it off. XD

Also, the reason why I'm posting tonight instead of next week is because I won't have internet for a little while. So I decided to get these chapters up while I still have access. Again, thanks to all those who favorite, follow, and review and don't forget to leave your impressions about how things are going. See you all next time!


	11. Corrupt File: Chapter 2

**An Alternate Chapter 2: Untitled**

Rom sighed as she finished her drawing of Blanc and Ram in the dirt around Neptune's house. The lavender haired girl had locked the door on the way out. Rom had a habit of losing items in her pocket, so she didn't have a set on her. As she looked down the path, she hoped that Histoire was okay. She had left rather quickly earlier and didn't leave a reason why.

The girl paused for a moment and looked back at her picture, wondering what else to add to it. There wasn't many places to hang around while waiting for someone, especially the lavender haired CPU. Plus, after what happened this morning with the Ancient Dragon, the brunette Candidate wasn't very excited to go out on patrol today. She was tempted to tell Neptune that she wanted to just stay inside for the rest of the day. And more than likely, the other CPU would have gone with it too. Everyone knew that Neptune wasn't a fan of doing patrols (or any kind of work). However, despite that fact, she still joined Rom in walking around parts of the inner perimeter of Celestia.

While Histoire had an excellent track record of keeping the CPUs safe for years, the last breach had forced them to adapt to the new changes. Well, mainly two of them. Rom had a feeling Neptune had only participated in the patrols because the brunette did. Nepgear had a few little robots in the southern part of the land, but never really did one herself. And Noire, she was the most ambitious of the bunch and ended up traveling the most (doing almost a full circle of the inner section of the land). Neptune was concerned that she would eventually overwork herself, but she could never deter the raven haired CPU from her task.

Rom got up from her place on the ground and dusted the dirt off her blue parka that she wore. Even in nice weather, she had never felt very hot in it and it worked great in the cold, especially when it snowed!

The small brunette CPU looked down and stared at the drawings she had made. It wasn't a bad doddle...but it was still pretty crude. She sighed to herself. Ram was always better than her at doing doodles. Rom, on the other hand, had been much more content with just listening to Blanc's readings of various books that she had written. Although, her big sister wasn't extremely good at doing said task. No one had ever bother to critique her... _award winning_ fanfiction, mainly because they were too afraid of the hammer she possessed. However, despite the amount of cringing she had to keep hidden, Rom had always loved to listen to Blanc read to her because she knew just how much passion she had put into her work.

The rustling of someone emerging from the trees, grabbed Rom's attention. As she turned her head, she smiled, "Miss Neptune!" Rom said excitedly, as she stepped forward.

However, as she saw the figure step out from the forest, she stopped dead in her tracks. It was a human...or she thought it was a human. It looked like one but there was something different about this one. Rom moved back as she felt fear take over; she could feel her body beginning to tremble. Even from this distance, she could feel the person's overwhelming aura. It radiated darkly, scaring the brunette down to her very core. Or was that just her fear exaggerating everything?

The figure noticed the brunette CPU and smirked darkly. She moved forward at an eerie pace, "Oh? What's the matter CPU? Are you scared?" She seemed to laugh for a moment as if something was funny, "But what would you be afraid of, little one? Death? Torture? Or maybe something else?" She asked, her eyes completely giving away her intentions.

She was going to kill her.

Rom shivered, her feet not moving anymore, "I-I-I'm no-o-t afr-r-aid!" She said, pulling her staff in front of her. She tried to fight back her inner voice. She couldn't run now. Blanc wouldn't run. She'd challenge this newcomer head on without fear. She would be a good CPU and protect everyone! However, this wasn't enough. Her hands trembled, unable to keep her weapon pointed properly at the enemy.

The person laughed once again, "Tell you what CPU. I'll give you a special reward if you just stand there like a good little girl." Wisps of orange energy seemed to wrap around the her arm. They started to connect together, spinning faster and faster. It formed into a drill of sorts.

The presence of the weapon seemed to get her body's true intentions to take over. Rom fell back on her butt as she suddenly moved backwards quickly in an effort to get away. She crawled backwards hurriedly. She couldn't fight this. She was scared. She was so scared. She was terrified. Rom could fell the tears coming to her eyes as she looked back.

Where was Neptune?

Where was Ram?

Where was Blanc?

* * *

 _Bang. Bang. Bang._

* * *

She could hear the shots again. Rom looked around widely, waiting for more humans to appear. Just like last time. She felt the same fear as she did those short years ago when those humans had appeared up. They brandished a flag of an unknown nation. And as soon as they stepped foot on the Goddess's ground, they fired wildly at them.

Rom shook her head, watching as the figure pulled some item from her belt. Everything in Rom's body told her to leave. She needed to get away. She didn't want to die. She needed to go. She needed to RUN. SHE NEEDED TO GO!

Almost instinctually, Rom scrambled to her feet and slammed her staff into the ground, "Ice Coffin!" She yelled as and ice spiked up from the ground. The red haired girl barely managed to roll away as the brunette unleashed a volley of attacks.

She yelled as she was slammed by Rom's attacks and sent sprawling onto the ground. Ice covered the area.

Without missing a beat, the small CPU ran for it, yelling for help into the woods.

She needed to get someone's help! Anyone's would do! Miss Noire should be close by if she wasn't out patrolling the western region by now and hopefully Miss Neptune was on her way back! Maybe Histoire was close by!

However, one thing was for certain in her mind, she had to warn everyone.

* * *

Uzume woke up in a haze. She was lying on the dark floor. Her entire body felt sore. As she slowly got up, she began to look around. She wasn't in Celestia anymore. This new space was complete black. She couldn't even see the floor underneath her. Everything was just perpetual darkness. The red haired girl was, for lack of a better term, utterly confused.

"Hello?" Uzume asked the eternal nothingness.

After a few moment, she sighed. It wasn't like she expected an answer from it. As she continued to explore her limited surroundings, she heard something being said in the darkness. _It's her fault_. _It's her fault. It's her fault. It's her fault..._ It continued over and over again. After some time, Uzume put her hands over her ears to try and block out the mantra. But she couldn't. It just continued. It was practically hypnotic.

 _It's her fault._

 _It's her fault._

 _It's her fault._

Uzume saw something in the distance. A person? The figure grew closer.

 _ **It's** her fault._

 _It's **her** fault._

 _It's her **fault**._

Uzume gasped, moving back. As the person came closer, she noticed her face. It was a very familiar one. It was hers.

 _ **It's her** fault._

 _It's **her fault**._

 _ **It's** her **fault**._

But something was much different. Her uniform was drowned out of its normal colors of red, white, and orange. Now it was merely black, dark blue, and grey. Her hair was a dark blue and her eyes a dark whirlpool of chaos.

 ** _It's her fault._**

 ** _It's her fault._**

 ** _It's her fault._**

Uzume stepped back as she came closer. The doppleganger grabbed the red haired girl by the throat. She could feel her grip tightening on her windpipe. She tried to fight back, but all of her attacks merely went through her, as if she wasn't really there.

The figure grinned darkly, **"And I will make them pay. All of them that did this me. They knew...She knew what as going on and didn't stop it! I'll kill them. I'll kill them all! I'll send them into a work of delusion just like they tried to do me. And you little human are just my tool. Like you should be..."**

* * *

Neptune yawned as she rubbed her eyes. _'What time is it?'_ She thought while she stretched and got up from her place on the ground. Neptune looked up to the sky and noted the sun's position, stared back at the ground for a moment while her mind was catching up, and froze. She was late for patrol with Rom. The poor girl had probably been waiting by her house for who knew how long? Well, at least she hadn't locked the...door...oops.

As she sprinted back to her home, she just hoped that the brunette hadn't gone to find Noire and Histy. Otherwise it would be lectures for the rest of the day and no Nep ever wanted to be lectured! It was among the top worse things that could ever happen to a person, among other activities such as eating eggplants (vile things).

Luckily, it had only taken her a few minutes to get there. Several years of perfect nap spot picking had given her the ability to chose locations far enough away to never be spotted but close enough to get back at a moment's notice! Though Noire would tell her this was a rather useless skill, Neptune chose to put in all her points into things that really mattered.

"Sorry Rom! Totally didn't mean to be late, let's go out for a lap around the forest!" Neptune said cheerfully, trying not to sound as if she was forcing herself to get pumped up for such an activity. Neptune had never found the comfort in patrolling that everyone else did. However, if it was what made them happy, she'd endure it.

She stopped dead in her tracks as she looked at the area in front of her.

The ground was still coated with ice. Neptune looked around, "What the heck happened here?" She asked to no one in particular. Rom wouldn't have just fired ice out of boredom. The tyke was accustomed more so to draw pictures of...Blanc and Ram on the _off_ chance that Neptune was dozing off somewhere else instead of being on time. Something was wrong and Neptune did not like where this was going.

She looked around quickly. If Rom was in trouble where would she run off to? Nepgear was pretty far off and who knew where Noire was at this time of day. She had a bad habit of doing morning patrol in different spots. Histy would be the one closest to them. She'd probably be towards the north by now. The lavender haired girl ran for into the forest, hoping to find sign of someone.

* * *

It had taken her about twenty minutes before she found Histy. However, seeing her, she almost wished she never had.

Neptune stared at the fairy like girl's body, a gapping hole in her chest. The blood was somewhat dried but still a little wet, "N-n-no way..." She said, her body going numb. Histy couldn't be gone. She...she could defeat any human right? She wasn't dead, right? This was just a joke right? A poorly written gaff, probably by whatever crazy author who decided to try his hand at fanfiction right? She turned her head, looking around, "If this is some kind of joke, this isn't fun!"

She didn't hear an answer, which ironically enough provided all the response she needed for her question.

Neptune fell to her knees, "No...no...Histy..." She choked out as sobs began to rack her body.

Histoire couldn't be dead. Not another one.

"Neptune! I was wondering where everyone was. Is she...," Croire asked as she approached the sobbing CPU.

"Croire?" Neptune said tearfull, somehow able to get her name out without a cry to interrupt.

"Damn. I never thought she'd be the one to die. I didn't like her much, but still..." Croire shook her head as she floated back up, "Histoire must've been trying to get a human to leave. Though I guess she bit off more than she could chew this time."

Neptune's blood refroze. Human. Histy dead. Rom. Disjointed thoughts suddenly began to link together, "Rom. Where is Rom? I need to find her. I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to her! Where is she?!" She yelled, as she turned to Croire. She could barely keep herself from grabbing her and shaking her around to get answers, "Where?!" She asked frantically, practically screaming.

"I'm not sure. I thought I heard someone screaming from that direction, but I was looking for someone to help Histoire. I don't have any healing abilities, but she was still alive when I found her." Croire explained, though she backed up a bit. Probably to avoid being grabbed.

"Thanks," Neptune looked back at Histoire's body before turning to Croire, "Can you take care of her? We'll...we'll need to...you know..." Had Rom not been in danger, perhaps she would be more numb to the entire situation. However, she wasn't going to let Blanc down. Not again.

Croire nodded, "No problem. Though I would hurry before things get any worse."

Neptune turned back to Histoire as she gave Croire a weak thumbs up, "Bye Histy." The lavender haired CPU ran into the forest. She didn't have time to lose, "Rom! Rom, where are you?!"

* * *

Croire breathed a sigh of relief as the purple haired CPU ran off into the distance. She hadn't been expecting Neptune to find them. Still she had managed well enough to play the innocent.

The dark fairy smirked as she thought about the future.

Now things were getting pretty exciting.

* * *

"Help!" The CPU yelled once again. It was true that she needed backup, but didn't she realize that it was only making it easier to track her down? Maybe she really did want to die. She smirked as she raced after the CPU's voice. She wasn't too far by now. She was afraid that she would have lost control again to the human after that attack, but now she shouldn't have to worry about her again.

She raced through a trail, cutting all the corners she could. The girl's voice was much closer now. It wouldn't take much more for her to catch up now. She made a quick turn and ran through the trees. She could see her now.

The CPU made the mistake of turning around. Whether out of shock, fear, or clumsiness, she tripped. She fell face first onto the ground. She picked her head up, "Help! Someone! HELP!" She screamed noisly.

The red haired girl raced forward. As soon as she was in range, she slowed. The CPU tried to scramble away again, managing to quickly get back to her feet. However, the red haired girl grabbed the megaphone and directed it at the CPU, **"So, we done playing coward yet?"**

The brunette raised her staff, perhaps in an effort to block it, but she was prepared for it. Before it could hit the ground, Uzume launched herself into the air and slammed her feet into the small CPU's chest. She leapt up like she had jumped from a spring board brought the megaphone to her mouth, " **ARRGGG!** " She yelled, and her Dream Roar blasted the small CPU backwards. She grinned darkly as she saw the body crash into the trees.

"Owie..." The CPU said as she slowly got back up to her feet. The crunching of the red haired girl's shoes on the ground, destroying the leaves underneath, caused her head to snap into the real threat's direction.

She smiled as she saw the fear in the CPU's eyes return. Had this scenario happened before? Or was she really this intimidating? For her sake, she hoped that it was the latter.

The CPU once again tried to get away, "Ss-taa-ay...aaa-wwaa-y!" She said, trembling. Oh, that was funny. She actually was trying to sound brave that time. However, her emotions made her far less intimidating. She knew exactly what this little one was going through. The fear that spread through someone's soul when they knew that they looked death in the face. Only she was never granted that relief. In a way, her enemies should be grateful, she wasn't going to torture them.

She wasn't going to ignore them.

She would grant each the sweet death they deserved.

And she would laugh while they burned in hell.

 **"What's the matter little CPU? No one to call to? Or maybe everyone just realizes how pathetic you are and didn't even bother coming to your aid?"** She snarled as she walked forward. Looking at her, she had a feeling the human's weapon wouldn't be able to do the job. She was wondering if it had been a fluke with the fairy earlier, but it was weak. Too weak., **"But don't worry. I'll kill them too. Just like I will do to you."**

She smirked, giving the small CPU a dark glare, **"And if you're still lonely in their company, there will be plenty in hell to make friends with after I'm done!"**

There was a pause. The CPU looked back into her eyes, tears in them. However, something else was there. Beyond the fear. Beyond the pain. Something else was coming out.

"No..." the CPU said. Her trembling had seem to calm, but only slightly. She took a quick breathe and but on the bravest face she probably could, "I said...I said I would be a good CPU... And I won't let you hurt anyone else. I...I promised!"

A bright light blinded her **.** As she got her vision back, the CPU's human form had been replaced. Instead of a small girl in a blue parka, now stood a blue haired girl in a white jumpsuit. She hovered back quickly and pointed her staff at the red haired girl, "I am CPU White Sister. And I won't let you beat me!"

* * *

Update: Wednesday - March 15 (hopefully...)

* * *

 **AN: ...**

 **:)**


	12. Corrupt File: Chapter 3

**An Alternate Chapter 3: Romtrousle**

"Ice Coffin!" White Sister yelled as she spiked the ground with her staff. The ground underneath the red haired girl turned cold as a blue circle appeared underneath her.

She dodged to the right as a massive ice spike drove itself up from the ground. She grabbed the megaphone and returned fire, screaming into the weapon. The CPU moved, trying to avoid her attacks. Due to its range though, she was able to do this with ease. However, the girl began to notice something as the she continued her attack. The closer she got, the more White Sister tried to retreat. She could've just been staying out of range, but what if that wasn't the whole story? Perhaps the other reason for keeping her at bay was that she had no way of dealing with her if she got to close. While the red haired girl personally didn't have much of a up close fighting style as well, she could improvise; which was much more that could be said of the CPU.

She dashed forward, trying to decrease the gap between them. White Sister raised her staff and continued firing various sizes of ice of ice at her. The girl dodged left and right, weaving in between the volley with a new haste. With her goal in mind, she was able to get close to the CPU in moments. She prepared herself to execute a Dream Roar. Now that distance between them was shorter, White Sister was going to have a tougher time dodging her attack. With megaphone in hand, she launched herself off the ground.

White Sister hovered back a bit and to the red haired girl's surprise, she raised her staff and smashed it into her side while she was in mid air. The girl flew to the side, the breath knocked out of her. The blow itself wasn't all that hard, confirming the girl didn't have much upper body strength. However, the attack itself was still enough to her ribs feel like they had been bruised.

The blue haired CPU raised her staff, another blue circle appearing underneath the red haired girl, "E Force Blizzard!"

Recovering from the shock of the attack, the red haired girl pushed hard against the ground. She launched herself into the air, her side sending signals of pain throughout her body in protest to the movement. While still in the air, she let out another piercing screech. White Sister raised her arms to defend herself as orange waves of energy struck her, causing her to be pushed back.

The red haired girl landed back on the ground and crumpled a bit. A green glow surrounded her, letting her work off some of the pain. She'd probably be able to heal the entire injury off if given time. She averted her attention back to the CPU in front of her. Her Dream Roar had been able to stun her a bit, but she looked like she was preparing for another attack.

She looked back at her.

Their eyes meet.

The red haired girl snarled. There it was again. That defiance. The will to fight. However, it was that same look that made her feel that something was wrong. That she shouldn't be taking her anger out on her. That somehow in the midst of her rage, she was the monster that she wanted to kill. And that only pissed her off more. Who the hell was this little newcomer to explain to her how she should feel? She had no idea what the hell she had been through. What she should feel. The whole world was to blame for her pain.

The humans.

The Goddess.

 _Her_ and the other CPUs who didn't stop _her_.

Her rage fueled her more than she knew. She roared out as she charged forward again, this time not even bothering to come up with a strategy. Now there was only a single goal in her mind. She was going to beat the look off that CPU's face. She was going to make her pay. She was going to make them all pay for what they had done to her!

As she pushed on, White Sister waved her staff. A small windstorm surround the red haired girl, sending bits of dirt and ground at her. She brought her arms in front of her face, trying to avoid any debris from blocking her vision. From beyond the storm, she could see a green light. The CPU seemed to be trying to heal herself in the moment of her distraction.

She smirked. That wouldn't save her. The storm forced a moment of clarity on her. White Sister would be focused on recovering as much damage as she could. That being said, if she could attack in the small window between her transition, the CPU would be unable to defend herself.

The storm faded and she bounded forward, orange energy surround her fist and spun at great speeds. The gap was closing quick as she charged.

However, the small CPU seemed to recover faster that she had been expected to. White Sister stood her ground and raised her staff, "I'll do my best no matter what!" A circle of blue lines surrounded her.

To the red haired girl's surprise, a sphere landed in front of her. The sheer cold from it forced her to stop in her tracks. She turned her head, more of them had appeared around her. Four in total. "Northern Cross!" White Sister yelled and each orb fired a blue beam at her. The girl felt her whole body chill straight to her bone. She felt frost beginning to cover her as White Sister's attack ceased.

As she stopped moving, the blue haired CPU smiled, "I...I did it! Ram! Blanc! Did you see that?!"

Unlike her enemy, the red haired didn't feel happy about her situation. Her blood boiled. She was being made a fool of wasn't she? This little twerp of a CPU was laughing at her wasn't she? She knew what she had done. What she had been apart of. And now that she had her put away, she was taking glee in her victory?

No...

No way in hell was she allowing this! She would get her revenge. She'd kill everyone one of these damned fools who ever thought they could mess with her!

* * *

 _"Well maybe if I try this?" A curious voice asked no one in particular._

 _Not that it matter to her who she was talking to. The shock that went though her system was enough to was enough to make her scream. She no longer had nerve endings since she was dead, but she certainly felt pain as if she did. Every single fragment of her wailed. It wanted enough of this experiment. When was she going to realize that she wasn't some damn power source? Was she enjoying hearing them scream? Did she enjoy causing them to fall to their knees in pain? Every day it was a new trial. A new environment. Not that she heard her._

 _Day in and day out._ _They begged._ _They screamed._

 _But every time..._

 _no one ever came._

 _The daily haze she had gone through was enough to drive her insane. Moments where tests weren't occurring were no longer respites, but torturous waiting games. What "technique" would it be today? How long would she study them? How long before it all ended._

 _Her friend had long since given into madness. Her swears and curses rang louder and louder over the days._

 _Then one day...she got out. And then, she died again._

 _When she had finally left this world, she was alone. She was truly alone._

 _And when left to her own silence and to the voice that tried to comfort her when nothing else would, that was the moment she knew what she wanted._

 _She wanted them all dead._

* * *

Fury erupted in her heart. She had already died for nothing to the humans. She had already suffered at the hand of the CPUs. Now that she was out, there was no way in hell anyone was going to stop her from killing them all. From taking out her anger on everyone who did nothing as she was tortured. From destroying this damn world that thought that anything they did to her was okay!

She yelled. She could hear the frost crackling as she moved. Her body was cold. Hell it could barely even function. However, there was no way that she was going down to a toddler of a CPU!

The CPU had returned back to her other form when she had thought victory was hers. More than likely, she had exhausted her energy and couldn't keep it maintained anymore. However as she crept closer, the brunette moved farther away. She wasn't sure why White Sister had decided to not try to stop her. She just cowered back more and more. However, that wasn't a concern of hers.

 ** _'Just a few more steps...'_**

 _ **'...And then you're mine.'**_

* * *

Rom shrank back as she walked slowly towards her. Of course, at her speed, the proper choice would have been to run or finish the fight. However, she had begun to change right before her eyes. The girl's hair had changed color, becoming a deep dark purple. Her white shirt and orange tie seemed to contrast the new look, but Rom was too busy being petrified to notice such a detail. After all, her hair hadn't been the only thing that changed.

The brunette felt like mouse under the hypnotic spell of a snake. She couldn't stop staring at her eyes. Those power buttons. Out of the few humans she had seen in her life, she had never seen one ever had the telltale sign of a CPU. However, Rom had never seen her before. Had she just been born? Even if she had, why was she so angry with her? She hadn't done anything to her. She would've apologize if she did.

She gulped as her body seemed to only be capable of retreating anymore.

She was going to kill her.

Rom was going to die.

Just like Blanc.

Just like Ram.

And unlike them, no one was going to know.

Rom could only try to shield herself as the girl charged forward with surprising speed. In moments, she had gotten close up to the brunette CPU. She unleashed punch after punch after punch, striking the smaller girl. Rom only knew it had ended after the final blow launched several feet into the trees. As she landed against the bark, she could feel blood in her mouth. The iron taste leaving only a bitter reminder of what was about to happen.

She felt tears well up in her eyes. She had tried right? Maybe Blanc and Ram would be happy with just that...

* * *

 _"Blanc!" Rom and Ram both yelled their older sister flinched again. Her red eyes blazed with fury as she threw her hammer. The blunt weapon bashed into several of the soldiers in their sides, more than likely breaking several bones. They dropped back as her weapon returned to her hand. As she looked around for more of them, she grabbed her side. That wound from earlier was getting worse._

 _Blanc quickly turned to the two sisters, "Come on. Let's go!" She said as she urged the two forward. As the ran off, the two Candidates fired an assortment of magic attacks in order to ward off the following soldiers._

 _No one knew where they had come from. However, all they did know was that teams were dispatched all over the southern side of Celestia and they weren't interested in peace. Unlike the four humans that had come earlier, they were prepped for war. As far as they could tell, the teams were small but their weapons were absolutely deadly. Blanc had been shot once earlier and already she was looking like she had been fighting four Ancient Dragons at the same time._ _No matter how much she lied to them, Rom could see it in her sister's eyes. She was getting weaker with each passing second._ _She was dying._

 _The CPUs living areas weren't helping matters either. Blanc, Rom, and Ram lived on the southern, plain end with Vert not too far away. Uni, Nepgear, Neptune, and Noire all lived in the northern, forest part of Celestia. As far as she could tell, they weren't being affected. However, only time would tell just how far this force had invaded them._

 _As they rounded the corner, the three crawled into a nearby cave space. Blanc winced as the three pressed themselves against the wall. They held their breath as foot steps rushed up to the cave. More soldiers appeared, probably as back up for the last squadron or what was left of them. Even against the cold rock, Rom and the others could see them filtering out. One even pointed towards the cave, drawing their attention to it. Rom and Ram pulled out their staffs, ready to strike._

 _Luckily, their attention was drawn as a giant blue blade struck the ground, disorganizing the majority and killing the few that were in its path. The remaining other soldiers raised their guns and started firing into the sky. A purple blur flew through the air. Forgotten were the injured CPU and her sisters as Miss Neptune was the much larger threat._

 _Rom and Ram both sighed as the soldiers ran off. Blanc shook her head, "Of course she shows up just when things get bad. I swear I'm going to kick in the purple bastard's teeth in...!" Blanc seethed, obviously feeling a new wave of pain._

 _Rom looked at Blanc, her face showing concern, "Blanc..." She said softly as she reached out to her._

 _Blanc smirked weakly. She tried to shrug off her side wound, but only ended up in more pain. She sighed and nodded, apparently deciding to not bother with the lie anymore, "Yeah...I know Rom. I'm not doing too hot." She looked outside to see more 32 bit megablades being launched from Purple Heart. She turned back to her little sisters, "You two are going to need to get out of here..."_

 _"Uh...you mean us three right?" Ram asked, looking to Rom for support. The more timid of the two sisters nodded in agreement._

 _Blanc shook her head, "Rom's right, Ram. This thing is killing me and I don't think healing skills are going to do me any good." Rom had tried earlier to fix the damage after the initial attack when they had tried to run, but the wounds just became worse, "Listen to me. Neptune is still close by and I'm going to join her. We'll draw their fire and the two of you run as fast as you can to the palace. Got it?" Her voice was serious._

 _"No way! We're not leaving you here right, right Rom?" Ram asked, defiance in her eyes.  
_

 _Rom nodded, once again agreeing, "We're not going without you."_

 _Blanc gritted her teeth and stared hard at the two girls, "Listen to me, both of you! There's no reason for all three of us to die here alright!" Suddenly, she grabbed both of them, pulling them both into hug. As she loosened her tight hold on them a bit, Rom saw tears in her blue eyes, waiting to come out. However, like with any hard fight, her sister held them back, "I love both of you two much to see you both go. So instead of doing it for yourself, just do it for me. Run. Please...just freaking listen to me..." She said, her voice draining._

 _"..."_

 _Rom had wanted to say something. She wanted to say that they could beat them together. However, this was one of those times where even they couldn't do anything. Their last hope was the Goddess. They were going to lose if she was unable to defeat them. They were outgunned, outmanned, and outsmarted. There wasn't much that Rom nor Ram could do that would save Blanc in the end._

 _And somewhere on the inside, they both knew it._

 _Blanc let go of the two and walked outside. A light shined, leaving CPU White Heart in her place. She brought her axe up to her shoulder, wincing as she did so. She looked at both of them with concerned red eyes, "Wait until our signal. And then run.. Get to the Goddess's palace. ...Please." She turned her head and prepared to fly after Purple Heart, "I love you both."_

 _And then she was gone._

* * *

They had run, but had been found by a splinter group. It was just their luck that a bullet managed to find its way through Ram, giving her a taste of the same medicine that brought down Blanc. Before they could kill Rom, Neptune had shown up and eliminated the rest squadron but she had been too late to save Ram. She had flown Rom out and arrived at the Goddess's palace a few moments before her own CPU form depleted her energy.

After the smoke cleared from the goddess's assault, Rom found herself alone.

It was that day that Rom promised them both that was going to be the best CPU she could be.

And today, she hoped she accomplished that.

The dark haired girl stood over her. The orange drill had once again formed, " **Time to die, CPU.** " She raised her arm up, preparing to strike. Rom closed her eyes.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" A voice roared before the other girl could move.

The girl barely had time to defend herself as she was shot backwards by a punch that had come from seemingly nowhere. Rom felt herself being scooped up quickly and soon enough could feel the rush of the air on her face. She opened her eyes and looked up to see none other that the white haired CPU, Black Heart holding her, "I'll make sure to deal with that human later. Rom, are you alright?" She asked as she finally was able to actually get a good look at her. The concerned look on her face to Rom she looked how she felt, "Crap...hold on Rom. Please..." She said softly, taking note of the brunette's injuries.

"Miss...Noire..." The stress of almost being killed and from the attack was finally leaving her body. After taking so much damage and losing so much energy, she could feel herself beginning to slip into unconsciousness. She had tried but Miss Noire could do it. She could beat her.

"Rom...ROM!" She heard, but Rom couldn't stop herself.

She feel asleep right then and there.

* * *

The girl rubbed her jaw as she rose slowly from the ground. That CPU sure knew how to through a punch.

Kurome picked herself up from the ground and saw the retreating flyer. If she thought that was enough to put her down, she was in for one hell of a surprise. After all, if it was one thing Kurome knew about, it was CPUs.

With haste, she started off in a sprint heading after her fleeing enemies.

* * *

Update: Wednesday

* * *

 **AN:** I'M BACK! Wow, not having internet kinda sucked. On the plus side, I got a lot more sleep than I normally get.

In terms of the chapter, I bet everyone thought Rom was going to die this chapter. Well...there is still time before Arfoire's palace so no one is out of the woods next. In other news, I'm going back to a system of doing review responses. I'll be honest, it's not nearly as fun for me when I don't interact with you all. Not certain about how this system will be (due to word count, I probably won't be doing the responses here in the story), but I will be responding to reviews once again.

Thank you all so much for reading and hope you'll come back. I mean...Histoire's the only one who's died so far. There's still time for an abort.

Or...is there...? **:)**


	13. Corrupt File: Chapter 4

Apologies for the late update. Some reason I thought Wednesday was today. Anyway, here's the chapter.

* * *

 **An Alternate Chapter 4: Battle Against A CPU**

Nepgya took another look behind her, hoping that her creator and Rom were okay. The small CPU had looked badly damaged. The robot hadn't heard exactly everything Noire had said, but whatever it was had been enough to cause Nepgear to start hyperventilating again. It had been an act that Nepgya hadn't observed for some time. She never knew the reason behind her creator's panic attacks; whatever the event that had started them had occurred _before_ her creation.

Thankfully, Nepgear was able to get her mind straight. Noire had seemed certain that she could deal with the human. However, as she left, the lavender haired girl seemed to start slipping back into her old habits. It had been Nepgya who told her to take Rom and go to the Goddess's palace. Nepgear lived the closest to the Goddess than all other CPUs for some reason. The robot was certain that she would be fine to have the company for a little while.

When she had agreed though, Nepgya elected to stay behind and watch the lab. She didn't want anything bad to happen to any of her creator's things, at least that was what she had said. However, in truth, she didn't want anything bad to happen to Nepgear nor Rom. She didn't know why, but she was concerned. CPUs were not easily damaged. Whatever had done that to Rom had to have been incredibly strong. There was also the fact that Noire had transformed into Black Heart. Despite probably being the least likely to hold back her power against a threat, the presence of her CPU form was enough to convey the seriousness of what was occurring.

It had taken much convincing, and an eventual shove out of the house, but Nepgya was able to get Nepgear to escape to the palace. She advised her not to fly as they didn't know the extent of this attack.

Now, she remained. She sat in front of her creator's hard, an eerie dark purple sword next to her side. She had no idea what materials Nepgear had used to make it, but she knew the blade was quite strong. She wasn't much for combat; Nepgear had designed her mainly for cosmetic purposes...and because she didn't want her to accidentally unleash a laser and hurt anyone by mistake. Still, the sword was the best bet she had and if Noire couldn't deal with the enemy, then the least she could do was buy some time for Nepgear to make it to the Goddess.

And then they would be saved...just like last time.

She sighed and looked down the road, keeping an ear out, and hoping that Noire could deal with this enemy.

* * *

After tailing them for about thirty minutes, Kurome smirked as she looked back up into the sky. The CPU that had saved White Sister had returned, choosing to hover in the air. She was looking for her. Well, Kurome wasn't about to disappoint her. The dark haired girl did find it weird that she was only barely above the treetops, as if she was still trying to remain concealed. As she walked to where the CPU was flying, she called up into the sky, "I suppose I should thank you from forcing me to make a trip to find you, CPU."

The CPU whirled her head to look at the ground. As she saw the dark haired girl, her eyes narrowed. She floated down to meet her on the ground, "So, you know what I am. Still, I'm afraid that won't help you much at all." She raised her blade. Her red eyes bore into her. Kurome shrugged, twirling the megaphone in her hand as the CPU continued, "I don't know how you managed to hurt Rom. However, I assure you human, you will not be able to get past me."

Kurome stared back into the CPU's eyes, before smirking. She shrugged, "It doesn't matter to me what you think will happen. You'll just be another carcass on the ground when I'm done with you. Just like that other will be and just like that fairy I met earlier is." Once her words sank in, Kurome could feel the anger radiating off of her. Perfect.

"Histoire...you..." Her face changed from shock to pure rage. If her red eyes could've turned into flames, they would have. Her grip on her blade tightened, "You will die here, just like the rest of the humans will! Lace Ribbons!" She yelled as she rushed forward, kicking Kurome up in the air with surprising speed. The dark haired girl had only a moment to block the sword strike with her weapon, the blade slicing into the megaphone.

As Kurome fell to the ground, she launched off of her foot and slammed the CPU in the stomach. She yelled into the human's megaphone, unleashing more waves of energy that blasted her opponent. Continuing her onslaught, she dashed forward and began unleashing blow after blow against the CPUs body before launching her away into the forest again.

The dark purple haired girl smirked for a moment before her face fell. The CPU laughed as she recovered from the attack. She looked slightly battered, but she certainly had not run out of energy, "Was that your best? I'm almost sorry I took you seriously a moment ago. However, being weak won't save you from me. It's time for you to die." She said with cocky arrogance as she flew back at her with intense speed.

Kurome brought up her megaphone, blocking strike after strike; she kept her eyes open for any chance to counter. As she did so, she smirked at the CPU's response. What an odd choice of words. It just so happened that Kurome agreed wth the sentiment.

* * *

 _"No!" Kurome yelled as she rushed to grab her cyan colored friend. The two ducked behind a building, trying to hide from the attacking humans._

 _Rei wasn't doing very well. She breathed heavily as blood spilled out of her wound in her shoulder. Her face was pale. Her breathing was shallow. A single bullet had done this. She didn't know what material it was made out of or where the offender was, but she didn't have time to find out the answers to her questions_ _._

 _"Hang on. Don't close your eyes, got it?" She said as she activated her healing skill, trying to repair the damage. Before she could, the cyan haired CPU threw herself over her, pulling them both down to the ground._ _Another gunshot rang out, the bullet embedding into building._

 _"They're behind that building. Get 'em!"_

 _"Think they can take over our land, huh? We'll show em!"_

 _"The Goddess will pay for this. She brought them to control us!"_

 _"We'll take back our land. It's now our time to rule!"_

 _She wouldn't be able to heal her in time. They needed to escape now! Kurome grabbed Rei as she scrambled to get off the ground. She raised her megaphone; she didn't want to hurt anyone but they weren't giving her much of an option here, "AAAHHHHHH!" She yelled, blasting several people back with orange energy waves striking them. It wasn't enough to kill them, but it would give her enough time to fly out of here._

 _Moving quickly, she pushed off hard against the ground and entered the sky. Rei was taller than her, but Kurome was pretty strong despite not looking it. As she tried to run though, bullet found its way into her back. She yelled as the pain hit. The intense burning that took over her senses nearly knocked her out of the sky. However she pushed through it. She had to make it back to Celestia. She just had to._

* * *

Kurome gritted her teeth. That night she learned that the CPUs were unwanted by the humans despite them being the ones that made them in the first place. The ones that had so much faith in their Goddess that it was actualized into the form of a Console Patron Unit. They were made to help them and the humans merely turned their backs on them and tried to kill them!

And if it wasn't bad enough, years later, she would learn that _she_ was unwanted by the new CPUs and the Goddess who could do nothing to save her. They just wanted to use her. She tortured her and Rei for years. She knew that they had know about them. She had told them what she was working on. And not a single one of them tried to stop her. They were all evil. They all deserved to die!

Kurome felt her anger bubble inside her as she defected blow after blow from the CPU. She could feel the megaphone beginning to break from the sheer amount of force they were using to fight. She could see the CPU in front of her tiring after she used attack after skill and continued to keep up a pressure that she wouldn't be able to maintain.

"I won't lose..." Another attack. Another block. Another crack.

"You'll pay." More pain. More anger.

"I swear...I'll kill you all!" She roared as a bright light surround Kurome's body.

The CPU stopped her assault, blinded. She jumped back quickly and shielded her eyes, "What the hell?!" She yelled. As it died down, she turned her head and looked at Kurome. Her jaw dropped, "That's...that's not possible...you're a... No, you can't be. What the hell are you?!"

Kurome floated in the air and smirked. CPU Orange Heart had returned. Only this time, she wasn't nearly as forgiving as she had been when she died, "Allow this senior to teach you some manners!" She roared, dashing forward and planting a kick into the other's chest. She launched herself back into the air and screamed into her changed megaphone, which had become bulkier after her transformation, firing waves of energy that caused the ground the crumble.

The white haired CPU landed hard into the ground as Kurome hovered over the ground. Her new form had given her attacks quite a power boost. Her opponent groaned as she got back up from the pit she had landed in. As she gathered herself, she glared at the orange haired CPU. Looking in Kurome's eyes, she knew that she only had a limited time to finish her off. The white haired CPU charged forward, a much faster speed that earlier, "Infinite Slash!"

Kurome yelled into her megaphone again, but the CPU dodged out of the way. After only a second, she struck. She made slash after slash against Orange Heart's armor. The orange haired CPU tried to attack, but could never land a blow against the fast moving foe. When it seemed over, the CPU launched her blade into the ground and snapped her fingers.

Streaks of light flashed as Kurome was attacked repeated by an unseen attack. She held herself, screaming as the attack had broken several pieces of her armor. Blood was flowing out of her wounds.

The white haired CPU sighed, her form breaking to reveal her human self. She walked over to Kurome, sword in hand. She kicked the girl over so that she was on her back.

 _"Please...make it stop..."_

She needed the pain to be gone.

 _"Stop hurting me..."_

The now black haired girl stood over her, her sword poised to deal the final blow.

 _"PLEASE STOP IT!"_

As the sword came down, Kurome grabbed it. The blade cut into her hand, but it stopped. The black haired girl tried to continue pushing. However Kurome would not let go. She would not allow herself to be killed. Orange energy whirled around her hand. The blade began to crunch under the power of the drill forming. With a determined scream, Kurome pushed her weapon forward, breaking the CPU's sword.

The orange haired CPU bounded to her feet. Another drill formed in her other hand. The CPU tried to grab her arm in attempt to do the same time of counter, but she couldn't.

With careful precision, Kurome embedded the drill in the CPU's side and turned. While on her heel, she threw the body onto the ground.

The CPU moaned weakly as she skidded, blood coming out of her large wound. She tried to get up but her wound kept her down. Kurome smirked as she healed herself from the earlier attack. Using an EXE attack was normally not so bad. However, with the world still screwed up, Kurome imagined that the CPUs weren't getting an adequate amount of shares. Therefore, every move they made in their CPU forms was so precious.

She turned her head, looking at the downed CPU. She had to have hidden White Sister with another CPU. It would be a pain to have them reach the goddess before she could deal with them.

Her mind made up, she walked over to the girl and picked up her blade.

The dark haired CPU seemed to realize what was about to happen and once again tried to run.

There was a scream.

And then there was nothing.

* * *

Noire could feel her breathing slow. Her body felt cold. _'Damn it'_ , she thought as her blood continued to soak the ground. She had to play dead so that other CPU left. Of course, it didn't matter whether or not she stayed to observe her really die or not.

She shook her head, trying to get up. Trying to move her numbing arm to her sword. She didn't make it far before falling back on the ground. One part of her was berating herself for not adding a healing skill to her repertoire. It wasn't like there weren't plenty around to ask for tips. The pain in her side and mid section was fading, which could only mean that her time was coming to an end..

The sound of footsteps grabbed her attention. At first, she held her breath. However, after recognizing the shoes, the raven haired girl sighed, realizing who it was. Of course, she would appear when she looked so pathetic.

"Noire!" Neptune cried as she rushed forward, eyes frantically scanning her over.

"...Neptune..." Noire coughed, her wound not doing much good for her in the talking department.

Neptune looked at her, her eyes looked between her and the sword as if she didn't know what to pay attention to first. Perhaps if it was any other situation, she'd tried to make a joke about it. Of course, this wasn't any other situation. "Just hold on. I'll get that out of ya. Then we can find Rom or Nepgear and they can patch you up good as new!" She said, tears were falling out of her eyes now.

Noire hated it when Neptune cried; then again, mostly everyone in Celestia hated it when she did. Her happy and lazy attitude could be infectious if one wasn't careful and seeing the complete opposite of it was jarring to say the least.

Noire shook her head, "She's...going for them...next." She said, her voice becoming a little weaker with each passing second. What the hell was that girl? She took on a CPU form, but...it wasn't possible that she was one. After all, they would've known if a new one had been born. No, the humans had to have created something new to kill them. Maybe a machine?

"No...no. Not you too. I...I can't..." Neptune's words brought her out of her thoughts. The purple haired girl seemed like she was about to hyperventilate at any moment. From the look of her distraught face, it was more than likely she had already seen Histoire.

The raven haired girl, against her body's wants, reached for her hand and closed her own around it, "Listen to me idiot...we've talked about this." It had been more like Noire had brought it up before during their few arguments and Neptune had tried very much to deflect it. It was among the small list of topics they could never agree upon whenever they met up, which wasn't that often nowadays. And now, they wouldn't see each other anymore, "You can make it...to Nepgear and Rom...before she gets there. But...you need to go _now_."

"I...I..." Noire could see Neptune's mind tried to frantically make a decision. Telling Neptune about the... _thing_ might just freak her out more; she knew all she needed to know.

The raven haired girl let go of her hand, pushing it away gently. As she did so, she thought it was strange that she was acting in such a way. She assumed she would feel angrier to die in such a way. Maybe that was just the blood loss talking. Or perhaps...maybe it was because she'd see Uni again?

Noire hadn't been known what to think after her sister's body had disappeared into the small black device. At first she had thought to keep it, but something about having her dead sister with her at all times didn't make her at ease. It was almost as if with Uni there she couldn't be mad about her sister's death. So, she had given it to Nepgear to hold onto. She believed that her sister would be happier with her. A last act of good as Uni's sibling.

Noire smiled at Neptune, "Go..." She said, looking into her purple eyes with her own red ones one last time.

After Uni had been killed, Noire had withdrawn from everyone. Neptune had been the only one who tried to break her out of it, but even she learned that Noire wanted space. That desire for isolation resolved itself as a campaign to kill the humans. However, even though Neptune somewhat disagreed with her, she had always stuck with her.

Neptune gulped as she stood up and turned around, "Ok...goodbye...Noire..." She said tearfully, chocking out the words.

Noire nodded, not that Neptune could see, "Farewell...Neptune."

As she heard the sound of running footsteps, Noire sighed and dropped her head. She didn't know what happened when a CPU died other than the conversion. She just hope she'd see Uni and the others when she did. Well...soon she'd find out. Maybe she should've asked Neptune to stay and at least pick up her Memory, but she wouldn't have been able to ask that of her.

After all, she still had a sister to save.

* * *

Update: Wednesday

* * *

 **AN:** Welp, to anyone who was hoping that Noire was going to be saved like Rom, sorry. Anyway, not much to say this time so once again thanks for reading. Don't forget to review and have a nice week. Hopefully see you all again for the next installment.


	14. Corrupt File: Chapter 5

**Responses:**

 _Guest: Ummm...I'm not exactly sure who you're thinking of, sorry._

* * *

 **An Alternate Chapter 5: Power of Nep**

Kurome was surprised when a lavender haired girl stepped in front of her as she traveled. The girl's face was...something. Whatever the case, she couldn't detect any share energy from her. Was she like the fairy from earlier or Croire? The orange haired CPU shook her head and steeled herself. If this girl dared to cross her path, she'd kill her too. Her eyes darted to blade that the girl held in her hands.

"So, you're part of the homecoming?" Orange Heart asked.

The girl smiled, as if nothing was wrong. However, both knew that this conversation was about to turn into something much less than civil. "Um...no. I'm Nepgya!" She said happily as she took a fighter's stance, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you get through here. Please leave."

Almost as if she knew there was Kurome's response would have been in the form of an attack, a ring of energy hovered around her feet, "GOOOO!" She yelled, as she swung her sword. The power responded, spiking up from the ground and shooting towards Kurome.

The orange haired girl ducked out of the way and sprung forward. Nepgya brought the blade up close, blocking her the first punch that Kurome attempted to deliver. Orange Heart growled as she was pushed back by the sword, "Mirage Dance!" Nepgya yelled as she started swing. The first strike barely cut bit the orange haired CPU. She dropped back, avoiding the second, third, and fourth attack. Negpya pulled her blade back, preparing to rush her. However, the move was too telegraphed.

Kurome dashed up to the girl, grabbed her arm, and belted her across her face with a right hook. She was surprised when she felt the her closed hand hitting not flesh, but solid metal. She jumped back as Nepgya fell down, reeling after such a hit. Orange Heart looked at her gloves. The impact had rubbed some of the cloth away. She stared at the lavender haired robot. Some of her "skin" on her cheek had rubbed off, revealed the cold steel underneath.

The orange haired CPU smirked, "You're not like the others, but you will die all the same."

"That's okay. I'll be fine." She said, that annoying smile still plastered on her face.

Orange Heart froze. She hadn't been expecting such a reaction. This thing was glad to die? For what? It had to be some kind of trick. A trap of some sort. But for what? Nepgya shook her head, bringing her blade back up again, "It's okay if I die. I'll be fine. I just need to hold you for a little while. Nepgear and Rom will make it to the Goddess and she'll stop you."

* * *

 _ **"I'll buy you all some time. Go! Get the data back to base!"**_

* * *

The orange haired girl felt something bubble inside of her.

Why?

Her mind began to focus on this question. Why the hell would she be okay with this? Why the hell was she just giving her life up to her? Didn't she realize what this monster was going to do to...

Kurome growled as she looked at her hands. She hadn't noticed it before, but she could see blood on them. The blood of those who she had killed. And then in a blink of an eye, the red liquid was gone.

Orange Heart gripped her head. She was fine with this. This is what she wanted right? She wanted them all dead. They deserved to die. Why the hell was she having second thoughts now of all times?! She had been firm in her conviction. She knew what this would entail, so then why could she feel that feeling inside her coming up to the surface? It was getting stronger with each passing second.

Kurome felt her mouth open, " **R...** " What the hell was she doing? Why was she about to speak?

* * *

 **'I can't let her do this...'**

* * *

" **R...r...** " Her blue eyes widened in realization. She just didn't know when the hell to quit did she?!

* * *

 **'Not again!'**

* * *

" **RUN!** " She screamed. Nepgya flinched in surprise at the sudden cry.

The girl tried her hardest to get her body to move. Everything felt sluggish, like she was struggling to stay above water. She couldn't let another person die. It didn't matter if she was a robot. She couldn't go through with what happened to that other girl and the fairy. Memories of different instances cluttered her head, causing her to lose focus. The malevolence in her raged once again, dragging her under the water again.

A punch was sent straight into her face. The orange haired girl flew back from the force and the body laid there on the ground for several moments.

Kurome snarled, her blue eyes practically glowing with anger as she got back up. She looked at herself; the body was hers again. However, now, she could see that human had been interfering this whole time. Despite her soul essentially being sent to this body, she was having trouble tapping into the limited amount of share energy that was being produced by the Sharacite. Her armor hadn't been repaired from the previous battles. Several cracks were still present. The megaphone was battered. It was probably reaching its limit.

Her eyes turned to Nepgya. The robot stepped back. Kurome knew she could feel her emotions radiating off of her. She was pissed that the human had somehow managed to rise up again. She was angry that she had almost, once again, lost her chance at revenge.

And it was this little tin can's fault!

"I guess we'll do this the hard way." She growled as a green glow surround her, healing off her wounds. Orange energy surround her fist as that familiar drill spun with furious intent. Nepgya brought her sword up, preparing to block her attack once again. This time Kurome was ready. She dispelled her drill and once again seized the robot's wrist and twisted it, hard.

Nepgya gave a cry as her blade fell out of her hand and she stumbled backward. Kurome smirked as she reached doen and picked up the blade. With no way to defend herself, the blade found its mark in her chest. As she looked at Kurome, she wasn't smiling, "I'm..." She started, though her voice was mixing in and out between her dopey cute and a strange robotic voice.

The orange haired CPU let out a punch. Then another. And another. And another. She didn't stop until the pain in her knuckles forced her too. By the time the red had faded from her vision, there were too many dents to count in the robot. She sneered at the scrap metal before hovering away.

"You're dead."

* * *

Nepgear looked at her N-gear as it began to make a quiet beeping noise. The red light was blinking.

Nepgya was gone.

She closed her eyes, trying to stop from crying. She knew she shouldn't have left her behind. She should have taken her with her, but she hadn't. Nepgya had told her that if she would've already slowed her escape. The reason she hadn't started flying yet was the worry of being an easy target. It was among the reasons why many of them didn't use their CPU forms anymore during these types of situations. It also wasn't very energy efficient and they couldn't maintain it for long periods of time.

During the second attack, they learn that human weapons were capable of picking them off easily in the air. And with this side of Celestia being largely forest, they would have a hard time seeing anyone on the ground from the air unless they were screaming or something similar. The lavender haired girl held Rom tighter in her arms. She was still disturbed with the amount of damage that had been done over such a short time.

However, there was one thing that bothered her. She hadn't heard a single gunshot all day. Unless they managed to suppress the sound, they should'veheard them by now. Plus, Rom didn't seem to be hurt from a gun or that strange material the humans had brought with them that day. Instead, she looked as if she had been beaten and pretty badly too. Her face was swelling quite a bit. She could only imagine how sore the CPU was going to feel when she woke up.

Beyond her friend's injuries, what worried her was the knowledge that no human could do this kind of damage to a CPU, at least not with their fists. The only thing that came close was...Nepgear shuddered. There was one thing, but the odds of that were highly improbably.

She tried to focus her mind as she tried not to think about that time. About how bad of a person she was. However, the more she tried not to think about it, the more the memories floated into her mind. She tried to keep herself calm as they came back.

Ten years ago, a human who had stumbled her way into Celestia had been staying by her house. She had just appeared out of the blue. One could say she practically invited herself in. It had been late at night and Nepgear didn't want to chance someone finding her. Histoire was told to police Celestia to make sure no human found their way into Goddess's land. Plus...maybe the resemblance to her sister helped sway her opinion as well.

Back then, the other CPUs were neutral to humans. After all, they had never met one.

Then later that night, it happened. When she had left her lab for a brief moment, the human had accidentally activated her Transfer System. The human had been possessed and the spirit inside of her began seeking revenge against Nepgear. Due to how close she lived to the Goddess, the human had been stopped rather easily before anyone else could've been harmed.

At the time, Nepgear had been trying to take a CPU Memory and send the energy into a robot. Of course, back then she had assumed the cubes were power sources. After all, that's what Croire said they were when she had given them to her. She had only learned what a CPU Memory was _after_ the event.

Nepgear looked at a small cube in her hands. It glowed with a soft blackish tint. What would she have said about this situation? Nepgear closed her hand around the object and continued walking.

After that attack, Nepgear had been choked by guilt over what had happened to the human. It had to take the combined efforts of everyone to get her back in decent spirits. Although she didn't truly start recovering until Uni practically forced the lavender haired girl to hang out with her every day. They took walks. She learned that Uni really liked guns and they had even worked together to make a few themselves.

And then finally, she built Nepgya. It had been her first mechanical breakthrough. And it had been all because of Uni. Her best friend. The one she...

The sudden feeling of dread caused Nepgear's thoughts to stop dead in her tracks. Despite there being no wind at all, she shivered. Her body went cold. A sword appeared in the girl's hand and she quickly turned around.

Behind her was a CPU. At least, she thought it was one. She had all the characteristics of one, but something about her just felt wrong. Her armor was battered and broken in several places, practically been torn down to just the ripped jumpsuit. Her eyes stared at the lavender haired CPU malevolently. Nepgear had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't heard her walk up.

The CPU sneered at the two, "Found you." She grabbed her megaphone and screamed into it. The weapon sputtered before sparks shot out of it. She dropped it and it landed onto the ground, breaking into pieces. If she wasn't pissed before, the CPU was now livid, "Fine. I'll just take care of you like this!" She roared as orange energy wrapped around her arm, spinning quickly like a drill.

Nepgear gulped. Rom was still out of it and despite her being small, the lavender haired girl was not going to be able to fight with the brunette in her arms.

Still, she didn't have a choice. The orange haired CPU was getting ready to attack. She needed to block or at least counter!

Or...did she? Her mind fired an idea as she glanced at her opponent's condition. The CPU's armor was heavily damaged, including the parts that were involved in flying. She probably wouldn't be able to keep up with her if things came down to a high speed chase. If she was going to escape with Rom, it all came down to this next move!

Before the CPU rushed her, she transformed. A bright light shined. As soon as Nepgear felt her sword change and her CPU form take, she directed the weapon to the last point she saw her opponent. The light faded; the orange haired CPU had been shielding her eyes. Now was her chance, "M.P.B.L. fire!" She yelled as the a purple beam fired from her gun portion of her sword.

She skidded back due to the kickback as her opponent took the attack head on. Without missing a beat, she dispelled her weapon and pushed off the ground hard and flew high into the sky. Gone was the thoughts of staying hidden in the ground. If she was here, that meant that Noire had either never found her or...Noire was gone. As she glanced back to Rom, she wondered if Neptune was okay.

Her thoughts had gone to her sister when the white haired CPU had practically tore down her door. However considering Neptune was no where in sight and Rom hadn't said anything to Noire before she passed out, the lavender haired CPU hoped that she had been completely out of the way when the brunette was attacked.

An angry roar from behind her caused her to stop thinking. She could find out what happened to the others later. She just needed to leave now!

* * *

Cold dread filled the lavender haired CPU as she continued running through the forest. Her only consolation was that Nepgear's place was completely cleared out. There hadn't been any sign of blood either. She wasn't exactly sure how, but her sister must've escaped earlier before the thing came tearing through.

Neptune looked up and stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she heard a scream fill the air. Whatever this was, it was completely pissed off.

Before she sprinted off again, a thought hit her. This wasn't an invasion. If it was, then it was a one man army. There was no way someone would make that large of a noise if it was an army. And if it wasn't a large group, that meant...she didn't have any reason to hide anymore.

A bright light filled the area.

She needed to get to Nepgear, now.

* * *

Kurome wasn't pissed.

Oh no, that would imply that she was a measurable scale of livid. After that lavender haired CPU (why the hell was did she look like that annoying robot!) had flown off, her anger had boiled over to some new region that didn't have a number. She tore off after her into the sky and as soon as she did, she understood the other one's motives.

She couldn't fly nearly as fast, especially after all the damage she had taken. Her megaphone had been destroyed, finally collapsing under all the pressure it had been under. She didn't have any shot of a long range fight. She could still see the lavender haired CPU but she wouldn't get very close to her at this rate. Kurome was going to need another plan. What the hell could she use to knock her out of the sky?

A light caught the attention of the orange haired CPU. A she looked below her, she saw something form underneath her. A fish? What the hell was that about? As she stared at the object with disgust, she saw more fish form. Without command, they flew quickly towards the fleeing CPU. That's when Kurome noticed the missile on the bottom of each of the flying fish. It was a tacky design, but it seemed like it would do.

The fish dropped their cargo on the retreating CPU, striking her on her back. She cried out and faltered in the sky. Kurome smirked as she noticed the brunette CPU slipping out of the lavender haired one's grasp as she was pelted with missiles.

The girl fell.

After the barrage, the lavender haired CPU made a nosedive for her. To her horror, the attack had given Kurome enough of a chance to get close. She grabbed her by the arm and threw her to get her off balance. As she tried to regain control, the orange haired CPU struck. An orange drill wrapped around her hand and she spiked the other's armor. Her wings started to phase in and out and she dropped out of the sky.

* * *

It didn't take long for Kurome to find the now flightless CPU. However, she hadn't yet noticed that Kurome had appeared. After all, she was too busy trying to shake the brunette. A fall from that high would've killed any normal human. However, these were CPUs. They could take much more damage and live.

The sound of the flying fish caught their ears. To their surprise, the fish crashed into the ground, exploding on impact. Kurome tried to block the dirt as it kicked up into the air. The lavender haired CPU screamed as she and her friend took the attack.

Then silence.

Kurome smirked as the dust cloud faded. The blast had knocked the lavender haired CPU had been knocked out of her form, reverting back to her human self. And White Sister? Well, she'd be surprised if she got up from that attack.

The other CPU got up slowly only to quickly scramble over to her friend. "Rom?" She asked to the unmoving body.

Kurome froze as she heard her voice.

She knew it. She knew that damn voice all too well.

She strode up to the girl, who was holding her friend. She kicked the body out of her hands and started chocking her by the neck, "You..." Kurome threw her against one of the trees that hadn't been destroyed in the resulting blast, "Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

The girl was crying harshly while trying to breathe; a particularly bad combination as now she couldn't stop coughing. Kurome kicked her, her anger still rising. The constant pain. It was all this one's fault! "How long were you planning on torturing us until you stopped! Were you ever planning to?" Kurome screeched, "We begged you. We thought our own would actually give a shit about us!" She tightened her hold, "But all you cared about was using us for your damn experiments!"

She let go of her throat and delivered a hard punch to her face. She grabbed her again as the other CPU recoiled and turned her to face her, "You deserve much more than what I'll give you. I won't make you watch as I destroy this damn world." She spoke angrily, "I won't make you suffer like you made me and Rei did. I won't electrocute. I won't drown you. I won't incinerate you. I won't keep crush you." She pushed her back into the dirt, "I'll just keep it simple and kill you."

The girl looked at her, her eyes wide with fear, "...I'm sorry...I'm so so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She said, chocking through sobs and whatever amount of pain she had to be experiencing right now.

Kurome didn't care. She had suffered for too long to care about her apologies. Her only friend, Rei, had been killed not once but twice. She had been rejected by the very people she was supposed to care about. And everyone just stood there and watched. They laughed. They continued living their lives and wouldn't just let her rest. Even in death she couldn't find peace because this one had to try to use her!

Orange energy wrapped around her arm.

 _"Stop...hurting...her!"_

Kurome paused. Not sure what she had just heard.

 _"Leave...her...alone!"_

There it was again. Kurome looked at the lavender girl's hand. She could see a soft black glow coming from it, "Another one?" She snarled, "Are you that sick in the damn head?!" Kurome roared, her blood boiling. She clawed at her hand and ripped out the CPU Memory that it held.

"UNI!" She screamed, trying to get back the small box from Kurome.

The orange haired CPU looked in surprise at the girl's desperate attempts. Even under everything she had gone through and her own life being threatened, she feared what would happen to this item more. The faint yelling from the CPU Memory faded as a new idea formed in her hair. A dark smirk appeared on her face, "Actually, I think I've got a little experiment I want to run. Let's see what's more durable: this memory or you." She threw the CPU to the side.

She dropped the CPU Memory on the ground and raised her foot.

"NOO!" The girl yelled, trying to dash for it but she was too late.

Kurome dropped her foot down, smashing the CPU Memory and the spirit inside.

The girl stared at the remains of the box in horror, "U...u..."

"Well," She said, picking up her foot and turning to the stunned CPU. The drill spun faster, "...that answers that question."

* * *

Update: Wednesday

Welp...RIP Unigear and well...almost everyone else. Only one remains now (excluding Arfoire who's still dormant). I feel sorry for Nepgear. She got the darkest route of the whole story (both True and Genocide) and to me she's the saddest death/murder yet. Especially if you read True Route because you've seen her real and true goal. Maybe in another world, Kurome listens. But alas...this is a genocide run.

Anyway, next week is the last battle...

 _Today's not a good day._

 _Dogoos are shuddering._

 _Horsebirds are hiding._

 _On days like these..._

 _people like you..._

 _...should be burning in hell._

Nepu Nep Nep Ne-pu Ne-pu Ne-pu. Nepu Nep Nep Ne-pu Ne-pu Ne-pu.

...

...

...It's Nepalovania. No use trying to hide it.


	15. Corrupt File: Chapter 6

**An Alternate Chapter 6: Nepalovania**

"No..." Neptune stopped cold in her tracks.

The explosions had caught her attention from the air. However, by the time she had been able to figure out where the attack had happened, it was already too late. Rom wasn't breathing, blood in the girl's hair. Nepgear was just lying on the ground, an open wound in her chest and tear streaks down her eyes. Neptune trembled as she numbly stepped to their location, deactivating her CPU form. She knew they were dead, but something made her go to confirm it. She didn't want to, but on the off chance that they were still alive she had to.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered who's scream did she really hear? The killer's or her sister's?

Neptune gently shook the two. She couldn't even call their names; her voice was completely gone.

They didn't move.

Neptune hung her head.

...What was the point now? Histy was gone. Noire was gone. Rom was gone. Nepgear was gone. All of her friends were gone. She had no one else. And the worst part was that she couldn't even work up the energy to be mad. It was like she had passed the point of being rage and just settled in some depressed pit.

The lavender haired CPU didn't want to move. When they lost the Vert, Blanc, Ram, and Uni, Neptune had been the one to put on the brave face and keep everyone together. Nepgear had been practically unconsolable after she found out that Uni was dead. Her panic attacks had even come back, crippling her once again for a long while. Rom...she had tried so hard to make Blanc and Ram proud of her. Despite still keeping that sweetness, that day had changed her forever. And Noire...she became so hellbent on killing humans, she sometimes wondered if she truly remembered why she started hated them in the first place. After all, she thought she knew that nothing would be able to bring back Uni.

"AAAGGGHHHH!" Neptune pounded the ground.

She wanted to be mad.

She wanted to be furious.

But she couldn't. When the humans had taken Uni, Vert, Blanc, and Ram from them, she had faced a similar instance of this. She had merely thrown the thought aside to make sure that everyone else was okay.

And now, there was no one else.

She was all alone.

Neptune looked up. There was only one other place that they could have been heading to: the Goddess's palace, located in the center of Celestia.

The girl got up lifelessly from the ground and walked forward. She knew where she was going, but she just didn't know what she was going to do when she got there.

* * *

Kurome hovered up to the door of the Goddess's palace. As she turned her head, she noticed a stone slab with several weapons. However, as she glanced over them, she felt something pull her to attention to the side of it. She looked at the blank patch for a few moments before something began to shimmer. The orange haired CPU frowned as an additional slab appeared.

On it, were two weapons: a staff and a megaphone. She picked up the Megagaga and examined her weapon for the first time since she had died.

Who had left this here? As far as she knew, there was only one person who might care about her. But come to think of it, she hadn't seen her since she had come back.

The sound of footsteps behind her caught Kurome's attention as she turned around to see another lavender haired CPU. This one was shorter than the previous one she had killed. Her facial expression was unreadable. Though from those tear streaks that were on her face, Kurome assumed that she had seen what was left of fellow friends earlier. She smirked at the thought. If she had already seen what had happened, then she'd probably wouldn't bother fighting or would make too many mistakes and become an easy kill.

The lavender haired CPU laughed weakly, "Just so you know, I'd be scared if I was you. I'm one hell of a final boss," She had even tried to smile. She looked like she was about to say another joke; one last attempt to pump herself up before the fight for her life. However to Kurome's surprise, the girl's smile faded, "So...I guess...you going to have a pretty bad...screw it. I don't nepping care anymore." She merely hung her head.

Kurome paused. Something was...off. She didn't know why, but suddenly she didn't like the looks of this.

"You took them all from me. Histy, Noire, Rom, Nepgear..." She mumbled.

The orange haired CPU growled. No, she would not distract her. She would die just like the rest of her friends. Composing herself, Kurome shrugged, "The world will drown in delusion. Though if it makes you feel any better, the humans will suffer for killing me in the first place." She said as she focused on her anger. The one thing that kept her going in this bleak world.

The CPU shuddered. It was then that Kurome noticed drops hitting the ground. Tears.

She picked up her head and stared at Kurome with angry purple eyes. Once again, Kurome had to steel herself. Something was bugging her about this one. Why wasn't she reacting to anything? Sure she was clearly upset, but why the hell was she not acting on her emotions. She just stood there, looking angry but not doing a single thing about it!

The fairy had been driven to her duty to protect Celestia from harm. The small childlike CPU, scared but convicted by whatever purpose. The white haired CPU had enraged, but knew exactly what her goal was. The other lavender haired CPU had merely folded under her guilty, barely putting up a fight after she had been caught. But this one...she wasn't like the others. She had every reason to attack Kurome...to kill her. And yet she wasn't.

It pissed her off. Who the hell did she think she was? Some kind of saint? A hero?

Kurome seethed. This CPU was doing what she could not. She was restraining herself. Trying to take the higher road and that was what was ticking her off, wasn't it? She was trying to be better than her. Trying to show her why she did nothing as the other tortured her. She was her replacement.

The orange haired CPu smirked. She would show her. She'd force her to see she was just like her, "I wonder though. Why bother fight me? You said it yourself. You friends are dead. Ending...no...trying to end me isn't going to bring them back." She said as she moved forward, "Are you trying to protect the Sharacite?" Kurome asked as she continued. She brought up her megaphone and directed it at the CPU's head. Unlike the human's megaphone, this was her weapon. At this range, she could inflict much more damage. She might even possibly kill her.

Her smile widened as she continued to goad the CPU, "For a last stand, this is rather pathetic. I'm sure your friends are laughing at you right now. Just like they did to me. It's alright though. You will soon drown in the world of delusion I sent them to. There you can laugh all you want to."

The CPU merely glared at her.

Kurome had had enough of this. This CPU's presence was pissing her the hell off! Kurome pushed the megaphone into her head, "If you have any final words then speak up. Talk just like the rest of your dead dogs did! At least they had some bark to their bite!" A thought crossed her mind, "Well...except for that last one. She even looked like you. Though I suppose that would explain your reaction to this. The only thing she could do was pathetically whimper apologies. And I think we both know how that went. So if you'd rather not disgrace the memory of your friends, why don't you do something about me you spineless, toothless bitch!"

Before she could even react, a bright light flashed, blinding Kurome. She felt someone grab her by the throat. Before she could claw at it, the person flung her away. As she tried to stabilize herself, the orange haired CPU felt several deep slashes cut into her armor, practically shattering most of it.

Kurome crashed hard as her opponent slammed her into the ground. The area lit up as purple energy leveled the ground around them. Had it not been for her own CPU form, Kurome imagined that she would not have survived the attack. As she got up, she wobbled uncertainly. As she looked in front of her, she noticed that the CPU had finally transformed. But despite changes in body, purple jump suit, and hair style, one thing had stayed the same.

Those angry, now blue, eyes.

"So, you were able to live that. Very well. If you insist on being a pest, prepare yourself...dirty sister killer," She said as she tossed her sword into the air and grabbed it by its hilt.

Kurome grabbed her megaphone, smirking. When all of this was over, she was going to show this CPU that in the end, she couldn't replace her. That she and the rest of her kind was just like her. That she wasn't wrong for wanting her vengeance.

* * *

The CPU's blade came down quickly as Kurome brought up her megaphone to block the attack. The force the blade was enough to push her back a few paces. With no opening in sight, the orange haired CPU had no choice but to defend herself from the other's Cross Combination attack. Kurome barely had time to blink as uppercut hit her square in the jaw, launching her in the air. The purple haired CPU leaped after her. Her sword lashed out, striking her and sending her back to the ground.

As Kurome got up from the ground, she turned. This CPU certainly had a lot of fight in her. She might even be more of a challenge than that white haired one from earlier. As she prepared herself to rush her again, she felt a pain in her arm. She looked at it and gaped. Her armor had completely given out, allowing her opponent to score a hit on her flesh.

Like or not, they both were playing for keeps. Kurome healed herself, the wound closing, "Come on, CPU. I'll kill you and then I'll kill Arfoire! I'll kill all of you!"

However, before she raced forward, she meet her eyes once again. Yes, they were angry, but what was this frustration that she saw in them? She had more than enough reason to give into her anger. To give into the want of killing. So why didn't she?!

The purple haired CPU frowned, "Strange...even now...why don't I..." Her grip on her blade tightened. She blinked, her face becoming serious once again.

Kurome shook her head. Fine. If she didn't want to kill her, she'd push her until that was her only option! She pressed forward. In mere moments, she was in front of the CPU and let out a rapid flurry of punches. She charged her last strike before delivering it straight into the other's gut, sending her flying back.

The purple CPU coughed as she finally caught herself, stopping just shy of the stone slabs. She took a glance at the weapons on it for a second and turned back to Kurome. She brought her stare back on Kurome, "I...I will..." She stammered, trying to saw the words the would free her. The words that allow her to fight the orange haired CPU on the same ground.

Kurome to have dashed to her position. In an uncharacteristic move, she swung her megaphone. The weapon smacked the other CPU across the face, causing her to drop back. Working quickly, Kurome grabbed her sword holding arm and got behind her. She start applying pressure, hoping for the bone to break. No one said she had to fight fair.

An elbow to her face followed by another punch straight to her jaw sent her reeling back, unable to finish her task. The orange haired CPU barely had a moment to dodge, forcing her away from the memorial. The attack left a small crater in the ground. This CPU's strength really was something else, but how? The humans barely believed in the CPUs. There should be very little share energy left for her to rely on. How the hell was she this strong?!

The purple haired CPU clutched her arm by its socket. It obviously was hurting after being twisted in an unnatural fashion, "32 Bit Megablade!" She called as a giant blue blade of data formed in the air. She directed its path to strike Kurome.

The orange haired CPU's eyes shrunk. How the hell did she make that? The blade launched at her with great speed. She didn't have a point of counter attack and was forced to dodge. As the data sword sunk into the ground, the resulting explosion launched Kurome again. She tumbled onto the ground; her back felt hot from where the explosion had damaged her jumpsuit.

She struggled to get back up. And the purple one just kept coming back; she had swapped her blade to her other hand now.

Their weapons clashed again as the CPU once again, brought down her blade. "Why...why can't I do it?!" She asked herself through gritted teeth as she kicked Kurome away again and followed up with another rush.

The orange haired CPU's eyes struggled to keep up as the sword seemed to never stop moving. The other just kept on attacking, leaving her no openings to exploit or even breathe. Her armor was practically gone. Soon, any of the CPU's attacks could potentially lead to an actual cut or fatal wound. She needed to counter, now.

A break seemed to present itself as the CPU kicked her away once again. Unfortunately, she only seemed to be winding up for another attack, "Delta Slash!" She fired two waves from her sword which surrounded Kurome in the form of an almost triangle. The CPU rushed forward and finished the shape, damaging the orange themed killer once again.

Kurome fell down to her knees. She could feel the sting of the attack on her body. She was - finally - running low on steam. The orange haired CPU looked up at her and noticed that the CPU wasn't completely unlike the others. Even now, she was breathing heavily.

She started laughing, willing herself to get up, "You're running out of time, CPU. Though I've got to admit, you've put up one hell of a fight." Kurome said, between breaths, "So I'll end you now!"

Kurome jumped up hovering in the air before shouting into her megaphone. To the purple CPU's dismay's, her opponent was flying around her and not leaving herself open for an attack. Kurome threw her megaphone up in the air before rushing at the her, striking multiple times. As she looked up, the orange themed CPU kicked the purple one away and grabbed her weapon. Two circles appeared next to Kurome, "DIE!" She yelled as orbs charged and fired beams at the purple CPU.

The CPU staggered backwards, reeling from the attack. Taking her chance, Kurome rushed forward and punched her. As she cleared her, an explosion of the resulting energy went off. Kurome smirked at her handy work as the dust began to settle. There was no way that she could've...

The girl remained. Granted her CPU form had broken but she was still standing! The CPU said nothing, merely raising her blade to strike again. Kurome quickly brought up her megaphone to defend against the attack.

And then it happened.

A light shined.

Kurome looked stunned as her CPU form had given out. Now the lavender girl was the one smirking, "Looks like I'm not the only one who needs a break. And now that you're like that..." She said, flipping the blade up in the air and grabbing it, "I think it's time I've ended this with Neptune Break!"

The dark haired girl readied herself. Without her CPU form boosting her, there was a much better odd that she would survive the attack. The CPU ran forward and started slashing. Back and forth she dashed and cut wherever she could. She turned on her heel and attacked once again, this time sending Kurome up in the air. She leapt after her, making another cut before returning down with incredible speed. She sent both of them into the ground, purple energy exploding as they both made impact.

* * *

Kurome coughed blood as she tried to get up from the ground, but a sharp point prevented that. The CPU stood above. She placed a foot on her abdomen and her sword at her throat. Her face once again expressionless. Had she burned off all her anger in that last attack?

The CPU sighed, still keeping her attention on Kurome, "I don't know why...but even now I still don't wanna kill ya. I guess it's just not part of my character." She said as if the development truly annoyed her.

The dark haired girl sneered, "You don't get it do you? I'll kill everyone if you don't. You think I cried about _murdering_ your friends? It's what I _wanted_ to do you pacifistic numbskull!" She yelled, but the CPU merely keep her shoe on her.

"You're really not trying to make a good case for yourself. Did you wanna die or something?" She asked. The anger had burned out of her eyes. Now, she just seemed...sad? Depressed? Empty? Kurome didn't really care what she saw there now.

"No, I wanna kill you!" The blue haired CPU yelled as she tried to take the opportunity to thrown away the CPU's sword and attack, but the blade held firm as she tried to grab it.

The CPU kicked her in her chest, sending her back onto the ground, "Geez, you're so angsty. Are all humans like you? Actually, I take it back. You're... you're not very human right now are ya? Would it be too much to ask ya to take a chill pill?" She asked, her voice tired.

"That human's dead and so will you as soon as you get off of me!" She snarled. However, as she struggled to move, she felt like something zapped her from a distance. She spun her head around, trying to figure out what it was. But...

...no one was there.

She rolled her eyes as she looked into Kurome's own, "So...hey, human! I've got a question for ya. Do you think even the worst person can change?"

She sighed, though her blade stayed trained on Kurome's neck, "You know, I don't think all humans weren't bad. Some of them are, but most actually I think most of 'em try to be good. A lot of people don't agree with me though. It's okay though, cause all they need to do is see a really good one. At least...they did." Her eyes grew sad.

The dark haired girl could feel her rage explode, "ARE YOU STUPID?! You haven't seen what I've seen. You weren't even there! You weren't the one being shot at! They killed us for no other reason than being jealous of that damn goddess! Humans only want power! They didn't care who they cut down!" Kurome shouted. Her memories and hatred cluttered her head, unable to be focused on but just enough to know they were there, "Just like you. Just like the CPUs. All this world cares about is power! It doesn't matter who they cut down to get it!"

The CPU looked at her confused, "Wha?" She shook her head, seemingly unconcerned with what Kurome was saying, "You aside...anyway, I guess maybe I just can't do it because I don't know if _you're_ the bad one here. I mean, this one here is pretty crazy, but are you just along for the ride or are you with her? If you could give me an answer to that, that would be great."

"I'll give you an answer, alright?" Kurome felt her drill forming again. Though now, the energy felt a little more uncontrolled. She moved to stab the CPU in her leg. As soon as that gave out, she'd be able to kill her.

However, as she moved, her drill disappeared. Her attack landed in the form of a weak punch, one that barely made the CPU move her leg. The CPU smiled, "See, told ya she was there."

Kurome felt her arm move against her will. She struggled to keep it still, but yet it traveled higher and higher. Kurome stared in horror as it came up to her neck. Her thumb extended and then started going to the side. A single motion.

 ** _Kill me_.**

The CPU nodded, "I'm sorry about this. I really wished we could've talked before this happened. Maybe we could've been friends in a different story." She looked back at Kurome, "If it matters to you at all, I'm sorry you died. I'm sorry you ended up this way. I'm not sorry for this though."

She brought up her blade.

"Bye."

* * *

 **AN:** Well, that ends Nepertale's genocide route and Nepertale as a whole.

I hope both stories were a good experience for everyone. Thank you all for reviewing, following, favoriting, and just joining in on the fun (and not fun XD).

I'm working on another Neptunia story...technically stories as it's a (three?) four part series. Hope to see y'all there when it comes out...which should be late this month, early next one.

Anyway, thank you all for reading! Leave a review and tell me how your experience was!

...Oh and get nep'd on. XD


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